Chaos is Always Fair
by O.G. Knights
Summary: "And that's when she figured out not every brain works the same way." How far would you go to save a friend? That's exactly what Lacey Wright is being asked when her best friend is held hostage by the Joker. Soon, her life might be in danger as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Batman, Joker, and any other DC Comics "Batman" characters that I may use. Yadda, yadda, yadda… You know all this.

**Author's Note: **I've been trying to write a "Batman Begins/The Dark Knight" fan-fiction but every single one I wrote…sucked. So, I'm trying again. It will start in high-school, and mention "Batman Begins" then the character(s) will make their debut in "The Dark Knight". :)

Hope you enjoy Chapter One! (Not likely…)

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Chaos is Always Fair**

_Chapter One_

He was everything a teenage girl could want. He was charming and sweet, not to mention rich. And she had him. Yes, Lacey Wright was Boy-Billionaire Bruce Wayne's girlfriend. And she was so happy- well…she _seemed _happy.

She'd been dating him only two weeks, when March 19th, 1997 came. It was a normal day as always…

Lacey laughed and walked into school with her friend, Audrey.

"Look, look, look!" Lisa pointed in front of them. "Here he comes!"

Lacey looked ahead and saw Bruce coming. She smiled and walked faster to meet him half-way.

Bruce smiled as well and gave her a light kiss on the cheek after he reached her. He brushed hair out of her face. "Can I talk to you after school?"

She just stared up at his face, managing a small smile. "Sure. What about?"

He seemed nervous as he licked his lips and exhaled. "I'll, uh… I'll tell you after school."

Lacey knitted her eyebrows in confusion. "Bruce? Is something wrong?"

"No," he answered quickly. A little _too_ quickly for Lacey's taste; he seemed to be hiding something.

"Really?"

"Honest. Would I lie to you?"

Lacey bit her bottom lip lightly. She had heard about his previous girlfriends. But she decided on the following answer: "No, I guess not."

Bruce smiled, running a hand through her hair. "See you later, Lacey," he said softly. He kissed her on the lips gently and then turned, walking to his first class.

Audrey stood behind Lacey with a stupid, girlish grin plastered on her face.

Lacey looked at her, a bit worried for her friend. "Audrey? Earth to Audrey…"

"Awww! That was _so cute_!" Audrey said, running up and hugging her friend.

"Okay… Can't…breathe," she choked.

Audrey let go. "Sorry," she said awkwardly. "You two are just so cute together!"

"Thanks, but we'd better get to algebra," Lacey said.

Audrey nodded. "Oh, right!"

The two friends rushed off to their lockers, then to the dreaded class of algebra. It was Lacey's least favorite class. She enjoyed biology, to be honest.

Audrey and Lacey rushed into algebra, just beating the bell, but bumping into one of their classmates.

Lacey looked up to see a familiar face. His skin was pale, his hair black and his bright blue eyes were piercing. "Oh…sorry…" she apologized. "Jonathan, right?"

"I… Uh…" He just turned and sat down in a seat without replying.

Lacey looked at her friend, a confused glint in her hazel eyes.

Audrey shrugged and they took the last two desks right in front of the teacher.

Lacey glanced over at Jonathan and he made sure he didn't look at her.

She frowned a bit. She'd seen him around school and knew he didn't have many friends, but she was curious as to why he didn't.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lacey and Audrey sat down at an empty lunch table.

"Have you figured out what Bruce wants to talk to you about?" Audrey asked, poking at the food on her tray with a fork. She studied it with a look on her face that said 'is this even food?'

Lacey frowned a bit and shook her head. "No… I'm kinda worried. What do you think he needs to tell me?" She looked up at Audrey.

Audrey exhaled. "Well, either he's taking you to a movie, or someplace nice…or he's dumping you."

"Well the second part makes me feel so much better." Sarcasm dripped off of Lacey's words. "Thank you, Audrey."

Audrey rolled her eyes at her friend's response. "Do you want the truth or what you _want _to hear?"

Lacey sighed. "The truth but-"

"No buts!" Audrey ordered. She put a hand over Lacey's mouth to silence her. "If he's dumping you then he's a jerk, okay? You are a great girl and any guy would be happy to have you as his girlfriend." She took her hand away and smiled at Lacey.  
>Lacey smiled and nodded, poking at her food as well. "Thanks, Audrey."<p>

"Anytime, hon." Audrey nodded and continued to poke the substance that the school called 'food'.

"So, what's up with you and Jeff?"

Jeff was Audrey's boyfriend and a true class clown. But Lacey didn't really like him. He was just strange… His grades weren't the best and his sarcasm got on Lacey's nerves every time she talked to him.

"Well, I'm going to the movies with tomorrow," she answered. "If that's the answer you're looking for."

Lacey giggled. "That was exactly what I was looking for. And I forgot it was Friday."

"Can you believe it? Jeff and I have been dating since sophomore year and now we're seniors," Audrey said. She then stared past Lacey with a dream-like look on her face. "He's definitely the one."

"I'm sure he is, Addie," Lacey said. "I'm sure he is." She raised her eyebrows in amusement.

Audrey's far-off gaze turned to Lacey. She was snapped out of her dream-land and she frowned, humorously. "I'm serious! He's sweet and really funny…" She trailed off again.

Lacey got out her cell phone.

"What are you doing?" Audrey asked her.

Lacey pretended to dial a number. "Calling 911; you need an ambulance."

"Why?"

"You're love-sick."

Audrey gave a mock laugh. "Ha ha; very funny."

Lacey put her phone away with a smile. "It was funny!"

Before Audrey could reply a hand was playfully pulling on her ponytail. Then a second hand covered her eyes.

Audrey smiled with a giggle.

"Guess who?" the figure said, giving a wide smile himself.

"George Washington!" Audrey laughed.

Jeff sat down beside her. "Close enough!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek. "How's my girl?" Jeff's shaggy, stringy golden brown hair fell into his eyes a bit but he didn't mind.

"Your dog or me?" Audrey asked.

_God, he rubbed off on her…_ Lacey thought.

"My dog," Jeff answered, sarcastically. "But I guess that means you're doing great; especially now that I'm here."

Audrey smiled and kissed him quickly. She brushed her side-bangs out of her face, as they were falling in her eyes.

"Oh, hey, Lacey," Jeff said, just now realizing she was sitting there.

Lacey nodded and gave an almost meaningless smile. "Hi, Jeff." Don't get her wrong, she was happy that Audrey was happy; she just wondered why Audrey chose Jeff of all the guys in school.

"How're you and Bruce doing?"

_He and his nosy habits. _"Great. We're great."

Jeff nodded and looked at his girlfriend. "We're still going to the movies tomorrow, right, "Aud"-ball?" Aud-ball was Jeff's nickname for Audrey. Together, they were both one big giant odd-ball.

"Yeah," Audrey answered enthusiastically. "I can't wait."

Jeff nodded with a smile. "'Kay. Don't miss me too much while I'm gone." He gave another playful tug on Audrey's ponytail and planted another kiss on her lips, then got up and walked away.

She sighed, dreamily. "I love him so much!" She smiled.

"I'm glad you're happy," Lacey said with a small smile on her lips.

"Is something wrong?" Audrey studied her best friend's face.

"Why would something be wrong?" Lacey began to poke at her food on the tray again.

Audrey frowned. _Something's wrong… I know it! _she thought. _Why won't she tell me? _

About…five seconds passed by before Audrey had to ask again. "Are you sure nothing's wrong?"

"I'm fine, Audrey," Lacey said. She sounded a bit irritated and this kind of surprised Audrey.

"Is something happening between you and Bruce?"

"Why would you think that?" Lacey gave a nervous laugh.

"Well you seemed…jealous."

"I'm not jealous," Lacey sighed. "Bruce has just been quieter lately. I'm worried."

"Maybe that's why he needs to talk to you. He'll tell you why he's not himself."

She shrugged. "Maybe."

The bell rang.

Audrey groaned. "Come on. We'd better get to biology."

They both threw away the food on their trays and rushed to their lockers to grab their biology books.

Lacey opened her locker and searched it. Algebra, history, English, French… No biology. "Audrey, I can't find my biology book."

Audrey knitted her eyebrows in confusion. She looked inside Lacey's locker. "Maybe Ms. Gates will have a spare?" It was more of a question than a fact.

"It was here yesterday!" Lacey said, looking once more. "It didn't just grow legs and run away."

Someone tapped her shoulder. Lacey turned around to see Bruce standing there, holding her biology book with a smile on his face.

"Bruce!" Lacey said. She was angry, but she still smiled and laughed a bit. She reached for it, but he pulled it out of her reach. "Bruce, I'm gonna be late. Give me the book."

He raised his eyebrows and chuckled.

"I don't want to play games," Lacey said. She was becoming genuinely annoyed now. "Come on, Bruce."

"You can't live without this book, can you?" he asked.

"Not really," Lacey said. It was a joke, but she had a serious tone in her voice. "Now hand it over."

"Nope!"

"Bruce."

"Keep trying, Lace."

"Bruce."

The bell rang.

"I'm late!" Lacey jumped and grabbed the book out of his grasp and Audrey grabbed her wrist.

The two of them ran down the hall as fast as they could. They reached the biology room and stopped, catching their breath.

Audrey leaned against the wall, taking deep, long breaths.

Lacey took a few deep breaths and tried to open the door. It was locked. "Oh no…"

Audrey looked up. "I didn't like the sound of that 'oh no'…"

"The door's locked," Lacey announced quietly.

Audrey pushed her aside and jiggled the doorknob and nothing happened. "Perfect!"

Lacey saw that her classmates were dissecting frogs. "Well, we're not really missing much."

"Gross…" Audrey said, peeking in the window of the door.

She saw Jeff sitting there with one of his buddies. Jeff let his friend do all the work.

Audrey smiled and tried to get his attention without letting the teacher know they were there.

Jeff looked around the classroom in boredom and his eyes fell across Audrey standing at the door and waving through the window. His eyes widened at his girlfriend. She'd never been late to class before. Neither had Lacey.

"I'm gonna kill Bruce after school…" Lacey grumbled.

"Don't kill him," Audrey scoffed. "We'll probably just get detention."

"I have never had detention before…" Lacey whimpered. "My parents are gonna kill me!"

"Stop mentioning death and murder," Audrey demanded. "That's morbid."

Lacey rolled her eyes.

They watched as Jeff said something to Ms. Gates and she nodded. He headed to the door, and then opened it, making sure he didn't close it after getting out of the classroom.

"Why are you guys late?" he asked.

"Bruce wouldn't give Lacey her textbook," Audrey said quickly.

"Okay, well, she's reading a book. You two can sneak in without her knowing," he suggested. "I hope."

"'You hope.'" Lacey echoed. "I feel so much better."

"Bruce isn't the only one with a problem…" Audrey noted.

Lacey scowled at her friend and Audrey gave a playful smile.

"Just go," Jeff said, opening the door and almost shoving them into the classroom.

They stopped, almost tripping over one another. Audrey shared a nervous glance with Lacey and they began to tip-toe to some desks at the back of the room.

"Ms. Wright and Ms. Bernier, you're late," the teacher said without looking up from her book. "Why?"

They stopped in their tracks, turning around.

"Um…" Audrey bit her lip.

"I- We…" Lacey couldn't think of an excuse.

"Never mind," Ms. Gates sighed. "Detention after school, you two."

Lacey's jaw fell open. She sat down, dazed a bit. "No, no, no, no…" she said quietly. _I can't have detention!_

Audrey sighed and sat down next to Lacey. "I'm gonna kill Bruce."

Lacey looked over at her friend and snorted out a bit of laughter.

Audrey smiled.

"He's my boyfriend, I'm killing him first," Lacey declared through a whisper.

Audrey giggled and gave an exasperated sigh, "Fine…"

"No talking!" Ms. Gates snapped.

Lacey jumped a bit and Audrey fell out of her seat.

"Are you okay?" Lacey asked, staring down at Audrey on the floor in an uncomfortable heap.

"Yes, because I fell out of my chair for fun," she replied sarcastically.

Lacey rolled her eyes and got up, offering her hand to Audrey.

Audrey took it and got up, sighing through her nose.

Lacey sat back down and quietly hummed some random song (she was making it up as she went along). She rapped her fingers on the desktop to the rhythm of the song. She rested her elbow on the desk and her head in her hand.

Audrey looked over at Lacey and began to poke her shoulder.

Lacey was brought out of her dreamy state. Her eyes widened at Audrey who hadn't stopped poking her. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

Audrey stopped and shrugged. "I'm bored…"

"Just read a book or something," Lacey suggested.

"Why don't you read a book and stop humming random songs," Audrey said.

"Touché," Lacey chuckled. She grabbed her bag off the back of her chair and went through it until she found her copy of _Jane Eyre_.

"Can't you read normal books?" Audrey whispered to her.

Lacey looked over the cover of the book then at Audrey. "Nope!" She opened her book and began to read, her eyes reading from left to right, quickly scanning the pages.

Audrey blew up her cheeks with air and looked around, slowly blowing the air out. She laid her head down on the desk, still looking around. Eventually, around the time class ended, she had fallen asleep.

When the bell rang again, Lacey closed her book and soon realized she'd get an F on the dissection assignment. She tried to reason with Ms. Gates, but she said, "No exceptions! Now scoot!"

Lacey groaned and walked to the back of the classroom, shaking Audrey. "Wake up."

Audrey's head shot up. "Wha-What?"

"You fell asleep," Lacey said. "Come on. We don't want to be late for English-Lit."

"Oh, right, right," Audrey yawned.

They both rushed after the rest of their classmates and to their lockers.

To Lacey's surprise, her English textbook was actually there. She looked around to make sure Bruce wouldn't sneak up behind her and take it.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"C'mon," Audrey sighed. "Let's get to detention."

"I have to talk to Bruce," Lacey said. She quickly ran off, looking for Bruce. She walked out of the doors of the school, leaving Audrey to go to detention alone.

"Bruce?" she called over the roar of teenagers talking to one another.

"Lace?" Lacey jumped and turned around, staring at Bruce's sweetly familiar face. She gave a sigh of relief.

"You said you wanted to talk to me?" It was definitely a question.

"Yeah," Bruce said. "Do you want to go to dinner tonight? At my house; seven 'o' clock?"

Lacey grinned. "Yeah, of course." She didn't sound as happy as she should be.

Bruce looked at her, his brown eyes very warm. "You don't sound real happy."

"Sorry…" Lacey chuckled. "I just thought that you were going to break up with me or something…"

"Break up with you?" Bruce asked. "Where'd you get that idea?" He gave a nervous smile.

_What're you hiding? _His voice sounded edgy and cautious and that wasn't normal. "Well, you've been almost avoiding me the past couple days," she said, fiddling with her hair.

Without another word, Bruce's back was turned towards her and she was watching him walk away. She sighed and began walked back into the school for detention.

She opened the door and saw Audrey talking quietly with Jeff who sat in the desk next to her.

_Yes, of course he got detention! _She thought. It was true, he always was. She just wondered what he did **this **time.

Sliding into the desk on the left side of Audrey, Lacey leaned over and whispered, "Why's Jeff here?"

"According to him, he was doing the dissection assignment," Audrey began.

'According to him' is what made Lacey know it must have been either pretty bad or just plain stupid.

"But according to Ms. Gates, he took out his pocket knife and stabbed the frog in the 'incorrect way' because he 'wasn't following directions." Audrey used air quotes around a few words with an educated voice, as if she was mocking Ms. Gates.

Lacey nodded. "Thought so." She leaned back over and took out her algebra homework. She was about to work on it when the teacher overseeing detention snapped at her saying, "No homework!"

Lacey's jaw dropped for a moment and her eyebrows furrowed in a bit of anger. "Yeah…" she shut her book and stuffed it back in her bag, opening her _Jane Eyre_ book instead.

Lacey's gaze drifted over to Audrey when she heard her gasp.

Audrey spun around in the seat at her desk and put her elbows on her knees, leaning over and resting her head in her hands. "What'd Bruce say to you?" she whispered. Her blue eyes were wide and her red ponytail hung over her shoulder.

"He asked me to dinner at his house," Lacey said. She tried to sound as happy as she could, but it just didn't seem right lying about something like that.

"His house?" Audrey's jaw fell open.

"Yeah, why?"

"Ask for a map when you get there."

Lacey just stared at her best friend like she was delusional.

"Lacey, he lives in a mansion."

"I think I'll manage. Besides, he'll be with me all night."

"What're you gonna wear?" Audrey asked quickly and enthusiastically.

"Clothes?" Lacey could see where she was going with this and she didn't like it. Not one bit.

"Come on, Lace!" Audrey said, gripping Lacey's shoulders and shaking her a bit. "You're going on a date with _Bruce "Boy-Billionaire" Wayne_! You have to look good!" Her voice was still a whisper, but a rather loud whisper at that.

"No talking!" Lacey and Audrey turned their heads to see the teacher with his nose in a book. They ignored the command and turned back to each other.

Audrey let go of Lacey's shoulders. "So, have I put some sense into your head?"

"No, not really…" Lacey smiled playfully.

Audrey sighed and rolled her eyes. "Okay. Invite me over to your house before you have to go and I'll help you choose what you're going to wear. 'Kay?"

"Audrey, I really don't think that-"

Once again, Audrey's hand was slapped over Lacey's mouth. "Ah-ah-ah! No," she said in a disciplined voice. Her hand was removed from Lacey's mouth and Lacey sighed.

"Fine, fine, fine…" she grumbled.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

It was six-thirty and Lacey sat on her bed, all jittery. She was unbelievably nervous for her date with Bruce. He bit her lip and checked her clock. It still read, _6:30 P.M. _ She stood up and began to pace around the room, waiting for time to pass. God, she was so nervous!

The doorbell rang!

Lacey dashed down the stairs in her white skirt. She opened the door and Bruce stood in the doorway, wearing dark jeans and a nice shirt.

"You're early!" Lacey said.

Bruce smiled with a small, nervous chuckle. "Yeah… Is that alright?"

"It's more than alright, Bruce," Lacey said.

He smiled again and linked his arm with hers. The couple walked across Lacey's lawn and to Bruce's car. He opened the door for her and she climbed inside, Bruce shutting the door behind her.

He quickly got around to the driver's seat and got in, slamming his door shut and putting the key in the ignition.

Part of the car ride was just awkward and silent. Lacey sat there, constantly pushing her brown hair out of her face.

Well, it _was _awkward until Bruce said, "So you wanna be a doctor, huh?"

Lacey was a bit surprised by his question. She nodded a bit. "Yeah," she said quietly. "I'm interested in how the brain works."

"That's a very interesting thing to be interested about," Bruce pointed out with a chuckle. He stole a glance at Lacey before turning his eyes back to the road.

Lacey smiled slightly. "I think neurosurgery would be interesting to study."

"Neurosurgery?" Bruce repeated. "Isn't that surgery of the brain?"

"Yeah," Lacey said with a small giggle. "What else would it be?"

Bruce laughed and shrugged. "I don't know. But, cutting open peoples' heads?" He gave a mock shudder.

"It's for the good!" Lacey stated. "People with brain tumors could die if they don't get surgery, and one more neurosurgeon in Gotham wouldn't hurt."

"Alright, you beat me," Bruce said with a charming smile. "I can't argue with that."

"That's what I thought," Lacey said in victory.

"Okey-dokey; we're here!" Bruce announced happily. He grabbed the key and got out of the car, shoving the key in his pocket, and then walking around to the passenger's seat. He opened the door and offered Lacy his hand.

Lacey smiled and took his hand gingerly and he helped her out.

They walked up to the large manor and Bruce opened the door.

Lacey's jaw fell a bit when she looked around the big house. "Wow…" she said, her voice echoing a bit.

"Overwhelming?" Bruce mused.

"A bit," Lacey said, wrinkling her nose and smiling. She held up her hand holding her index finger and thumb less than an inch a part.

Bruce chuckled. "I understand."

"Really? You've been living in this house your whole life."

"Okay, you're right. I don' t understand, but I will admit it is a big house."

"Castle is more like it."

"You hungry?" He decided to change the subject.

"Actually… Not really," Lacey said with a small shake of her head.

"Okay, dinner's off," Bruce muttered. "How about just talking?"

"Just talking?" Lacey echoed.

"Yeah," Bruce said. "Talking."

Lacey thought, mockingly and then said, "Sounds alright with me. But I might get hungry later."

"Fair enough," Bruce said. He smiled a bit and led her to the living room which was probably as big as her whole house.

"Is this a separate house?" Lacey asked as she entered the room.

Bruce rolled his eyes and sat down, Lacey sitting next to him. She smoothed her skirt. "So…"

"Well, we already discussed what I want to do when I get to college…" Lacey said. She tried to think of things they could talk about. "Um…"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Bruce?" Lacey said, quietly. It had been about fifteen minutes. They had talked about a few things: school, classmates, and some other subjects.

"What is it?" He looked at her, still leaning back on the couch.

"Um, when you asked me here earlier, you didn't seem…sure you wanted me here," she admitted. It was hard for her to say, because she really liked him, but she needed to get facts straight. She looked away from him.

Bruce sighed and straightened up. "Lacey, if your saying that I-"

"Is it Rachel?" She didn't even look at him when she accused him.

"What?"

Lacey finally looked at him, a few tears rolling down her now rosy cheeks. "Rachel Dawes," she said. "I know you like her; the whole school does. You've been friends since you were kids but…"

"Please don't-"

Lacey got up and brushed her hair back. "You know what? Forget we had this conversation. It might be better break up." She sniffed and wiped tears away with the back of her hand, then rushed out of the room.

"Lacey!" Bruce called after her. "Lacey, come back!"

She could hear his footsteps behind her as she walked towards the door.

Bruce reached out and put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Just listen-"

"Bruce, it's okay," Lacey said in an oddly calm voice. "I understand. It just won't work. You can date who you want now."

"I-" Bruce tried to tell her something, but she was out the door before he could finish.

Lacey stood outside until she realized that she didn't drive herself. She didn't care and just started to walk home.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **Okay, well, that was probably terrible… But please review to tell me if it's any good. Please, please, please!


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

_-10 Years Later-_

"Yeah, I love you too, dad," Audrey said with a small giggle. A small smile appeared on her face as her father rambled on about something over the phone.

She walked up the steps to the Gotham City Bank. "Dad, it's fine. I'm gonna visit you and mom this weekend. Yes, it's Friday. I'm leaving tomorrow morning…" She answered countless other questions. "Okay, bye. See you tomorrow."

Audrey gave a sigh of relief and put her phone back in her purse. She brushed her red hair out of her face and walked through the door of the bank.

Today, Audrey Bernier is a successful poet and she hadn't seen her friend Lacey Wright in a year. Why? Well, if she knew that she would have tried to contact Lacey.

Audrey waited in line behind an older man. She licked her lips and looked around. She adjusted the collar of her navy-blue turtle-neck and sniffed, folding her arms.

It was quiet, all except a few chattering of the man in front of her talking to the bank teller.

Gunshots immediately echoed through the large room and the bank teller started to scream when she heard them.

"All right, everybody, hands up, heads down!" a deep voice yelled.

Audrey whipped around to see multiple men in plastic clown masks running into the bank. Her blue eyes grew wide and she gasped.

"On the ground, girlie!" a clown yelled at Audrey and pushed her to the ground. She grunted as she hit the floor and breathed deeply, trying to calm down.

There were two clowns with handguns, Clown One and Two, but the third clown carried a handgun and a blue duffel bag. His mask was molded to have a firm expression. The blue painted eyebrows were furrowed and a deep frown was held in place on the white mask.

"I said hands up, heads down!" Clown One repeated. He ran over to a bank teller and grabbed the teller by the shirt, pulling him over the desk. "Let's go, pal, I'm making a withdrawal here!"

Audrey gulped and licked her dry lips. _Please don't let this be happening to me! Please, no! _she thought desperately.

Clown Three began to put grenades in peoples' hands and the people just shook, trying not to set them off. He tore the pins off of every grenade he took out.

"Obviously, we don't want you doing anything with your hands, other than holdin' on for dear life," Clown One announced, pacing a bit.

Audrey pressed her lips together and closed her eyes shut tightly, hoping she'd become invisible so he'd pass by her. She opened her eyes and it seemed it had worked, until she realized he was just going down the line. She was next.

Clown Three took out another grenade and eyed her when he was finished with the elderly man next to her. He cocked his head to one side and she caught a glimpse of brown and green glints from underneath the mask.

Shattered glass sprayed across the floor and both Audrey and Clown Three looked over to see the bank manager with a gun in his hands. He walked out of the office and Clown Three, scrambled behind a desk, forgetting to give Audrey a grenade.

Audrey let out a large breath and turned her head upwards silently thanking someone that her life was saved.

The bank manager cocked the gun and walked further out into the bank. He shot for the desk that Clown Three was behind and Clown Three quickly moved, crawling from one desk to the next to make sure the bank manager didn't hit him.

"Yeah!" the manager yelled, as he almost hit Clown Three.

But Clown Three was a bit faster. He crawled behind a desk with Clown One, his shoes squeaking on the floor as he moved.

"You have any idea who you're stealin' from?" the manager shouted. "You and your friends are dead!"

Audrey listened closely and heard Clown One ask Clown Three, "He's out, right?"

She thought she saw Clown Three respond with a nod, but she wasn't sure.

Clown One stood up, only to have a bullet graze his shoulder. He fell to the floor.

Clown Three reacted quicker than Audrey thought he would. He jumped to his feet and shot the bank manager multiple times in the chest and shoulder.

The manager dropped the shotgun and fell to the floor, lying on his side.

Audrey's breath caught in her throat when she heard the gunshots and the fall.

Clown Three's shoulders were hunched over, making him look shorter than he really was, and his head was cocked to one side a bit as he observed the wounded man.

Clown One got back up once he realized the manager was on the floor. "Where did you learn to count?" he asked angrily.

Clown Three looked over at his fellow robber. Audrey imagined he had rolled his eyes underneath that mask of his, or something along the lines of that. Soon, he was walking down the line of scared-out-of-their-wits victims, looked from side to side to study them.

Clown One returned from where he'd run off to, holding duffle bags of money.

Clown Three began to drag them into one pile.

"That's a lot of money," Clown One observed. "If this Joker guy was so smart, he'd have had us bring a bigger car." He gave a chuckle at his last comment and took out a handgun cocking it, aiming for Clown Three.

Clown Three stopped in his tracks when he heard the gun. He slowly turned around, the same angry expression plastered onto the mask.

"I'm bettin' the Joker told you to kill me as soon as we loaded the cash," Clown One scoffed. The ear-to-ear smile on _his _mask was very misleading, due to the expression in his words.

Audrey closed her eyes, and waited for the gunshot and another thump of a limp body falling.

And finally, Clown Three spoke, "No, no, no, no… I kill the _bus driver_." He checked his wrist watch and slid to the side.

Audrey opened her eyes at the sound of his voice. It was unusually high-pitched for a man's voice, but still very…eerie sounding and threatening. "What?" she mouthed.

Clown One scoffed. "Bus driver? What bus driver?"

Clown Three moved to the side even further, for good measure.

But before Clown One could shoot him, a classic yellow school bus came crashing through the front of the bank.

Clown One was knocked to the ground, unconscious.

_How many are there? _Audrey thought as she watched another man in a clown mask hop out of the bus.

"School's out; time to go," he announced. He looked at Clown One. "That guy's not getting up is he?"

Clown Three grabbed a duffle bag and tossed it to Clown Four, loading them into the school bus.

"That's a lot of money," Clown Four said, eyeing the duffle bags.

Clown Three gave him one of the few bags left and Clown Four threw it into the bus. He looked around the room, maybe eyeing the damage he and the others had done.

He turned to walk away and Clown Four asked, "What happened to the rest of the guys?"

As if he was just a piece of meat, Clown Three threw his arm back and casually shot Clown Four dead.

As Clown Three was about to climb into the bus, he heard the manager's voice cough out, "You think you're smart, huh?"

Audrey heard Clown Three stifle a sigh and he turned around.

The manager coughed again. "The guy that hired youse… He'll just do the same thing to you."

Clown Three, impatiently, reached into his pocket and began to walk towards the bank manager.

Audrey saw him pull something out of his pocket- a grenade, by the looks of it.

"Oh, criminals in this town used to believe in something…" the manager said weakly. "Honor; respect! Look at you. What do you believe in, huh? What do you believe in?"

Clown Three squatted down in front of the bank manager and put a grenade in his mouth to keep him quiet.

Then that eerie voice rang in Audrey's ears again. "I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you…" he trailed off a bit and his left hand pulled the clown mask off his face. "…stranger." He flashed a toothy, yellow smile at the manager.

Audrey's heart skipped a bit when she saw his face. She thought he was just another criminal, nothing special. Just someone look for money. But the ashen white paint on his face, and the black shadows around his eyes told her that he wasn't like every other criminal.

_The Joker… _she thought. She'd heard of him, but she'd never seen him.

And what really caught her eye was the bright red makeup, curling up his cheeks in a smile-like shape.

She watched as a purple thread unraveled from the lining of the Joker's dull, blue coat. She followed the thread and saw the end was tied onto the pin for the grenade in the bank manager's mouth. The pin fell off, and a thick layer of gas began to come out of the end. That was just for show.

Her eyes widened as the Joker tossed the mask into the bus and looked around the bank once more. His dark eyes rested on Audrey's fear-stricken face and he walked over casually. His tongue darted over his lips and he kneeled down next to her, looking her dead-on in the face.

The Joker exhaled and raised his eyebrows, his eyes looking at the ceiling for a moment. "What are we going to do with you?" His teeth were clenched as he said this.

The other victims turned to Audrey, shaking, wondering how she would reply.

Audrey looked away and the Joker grabbed her chin lightly, bringing her gaze back to his. "Oh, come on, now. You're not afraid of me, are you?" A giggle rose in his throat and eventually escaped.

Audrey didn't answer.

"Well?" But he was waiting for an answer.

She swallowed and choked out a rather strong, "No."

"No?" the Joker repeated. "Well, that's a first, I'll have to say." He scoffed and smirked.

Audrey followed the line of red lipstick that went across his face. She saw a bit of uneven skin at the edges of his mouth up into his cheeks. She looked down when she realized it.

"You're not very talkative…" he observed.

Audrey shook her head. It was totally the opposite. Around friends and people she knew, she couldn't stop talking, but was very shy around strangers. Especially strangers like the Joker.

"Then you won't scream," he laughed.

Audrey looked up. "What?" she said quickly.

A gloved hand gripped her wrists and tugged her to her feet. "I don't want you following me and telling Jim Gordon anything." He began to lead her- more like _drag _her- to the bus.

Audrey tried to pull her hands away, but the fabric of his glove that rubbed against her wrists began to burn but she didn't give up.

"I'd suggest you stop that, and cooperate," he said. Then he gestured towards the other people with his free hand. "You _could _end up like them- the fate of your life in your own hands. Or…" He didn't go on, assuming Audrey got the point.

"Let me go!" Audrey said, as she struggled fiercely against his grip.

The Joker whipped around and grabbed her chin roughly this time. His eyes were dark and hard, his permanent smile turning into a frown. "You are to come quietly. One false move and…" Once again, he didn't finish because the next part was obvious.

Audrey's furrowed eyebrows didn't change their expression and her blue eyes, despite their brightness, seemed dark and fear glinted in them. She gave a reluctant nod.

He loosened his grip on her face. "Good," he said and shoved her to get her in the bus.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Police sirens sounded and they were headed towards the bank.

Lacey got out of the ambulance, and ran into the bank. She'd gotten a call of a robbery and there was a shooting victim.

"The Joker?" Lacey asked. A cop had just told her what had happened.

"Yeah," he answered.

She nodded and took a breath. She walked into the newly robbed bank and saw many cops running over to the civilians who had the grenades in their grip.

Lacey looked at the bank manager and kneeled down next to him. Her index and middle fingers were placed under his jaw, on his neck to check for a pulse. She didn't feel one and she put her ear next to his mouth. "He's not breathing," she announced. She turned him over so he lay on his back and she began to push fiercely on his chest, to get his heart pumping. She licked her lips and checked his pulse again. Nothing. She cursed and tried again. "Come on…"

Lacey checked his pulse. It was weak and he could possibly die.

Some paramedics rushed in with a stretcher and they lifted him onto the stretcher, quickly getting him into the ambulance.

Lacey climbed in with them. "Bag him," she said to one of the paramedics with her.

They got a bag and a pump and began to steadily pump air into the manager's lungs.

Lace sighed, hoping he'd be okay. "All we know is he was shot, right?" she asked a paramedic.

They nodded. "Yeah. The cops didn't tell us anything else."

"Have Dr. Hunt look at him when we get to Gotham General," Lacey ordered. "She'd be best with something like this."

About three minutes later, they arrived at Gotham General Hospital, where Lacey worked. They all climbed out of the ambulance and got the bank manager out, rushing him into the hospital.

Lacey followed just behind them. Nurses and doctors rushed around in the hospital when they got inside and moved out of the way of the paramedics.

She stopped to ask where Kate Hunt was and she was told that Dr. Hunt was in the break room. She rushed right there and poked her head inside. "Kate," she said.

Kate looked up and took a sip of her coffee. "Hey, Lacey."

"We got a shooting victim," Lacey said. "He's barely breathing."

"I'm on it," Kate said. She got up, leaving her coffee and rushing out, seeing the paramedics with the bank manager on the stretcher.

"You were at the bank?" A voice caused Lacey's head to turn. She looked at Dr. Henry Farren sitting in another seat at the table.

"Yeah, why?" Lacey looked at him and sat down as well.

"It's all over the news." Henry pointed at the screen and there was a live feed of the story.

"_We've just received word that a hostage was taken by the Joker," the news reporter announced. "Her name is yet to be revealed, but witnesses say that she had red hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a navy blue turtle-neck sweater. The Gotham Police Force ask that if you see her, you call them straight away."_

Lacey chuckled. "That sounds just like my friend, Audrey."

"What?" Henry said.

"Audrey Bernier," Lacey repeated. "She was my best friend through high-school, but we haven't talked in a year. Let's hope that's not her."

"You can only pray, Lacey," he muttered. His voice became muffled as he lifted his coffee cup to his mouth.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Joker opened a door to a very dull room. "Home sweet home, sweetheart," he said.

Audrey stood at his side. Her hands were bound with duct tape, so, unfortunately, she couldn't punch him in the face. "Shut up."

"Ooh, feisty, aren't we?" he laughed.

Audrey narrowed her eyes at him, as he pushed her into the room. "House rules: you stay quiet, stay hidden, and stay quiet." Then he shut the door and she heard him lock it, leaving her in the room alone.

Audrey sat down on the bed and looked around. She looked down at the duct tape around her hands. She lifted her wrists to her mouth and began to tear at the tape with her teeth.

She sighed when her teeth and gums became sore, and nothing had happened to the duct tape. It felt like the tape was tightening on her wrists every second that passed.

For a few minutes, which seemed like hours, she just sat there, staring at the floor, counting the wooden boards. She came to a conclusion of somewhere over fifty boards (she lost track after two minutes).

Audrey tired again at getting the duct tape off her wrists. She got a loose part in between her teeth and pulled. She heard a slight ripping noise and took her wrists away. The tape was coming off. She tugged on it again, when the door opened. She took it away from her mouth.

The Joker stood in the doorway and studied her. "You're not going anywhere, Audrey," he said.

Audrey paused. "How… How did you know my name?"

The Joker's eyebrows raised and he himself paused. He licked his lips. "You didn't mention it?"

Audrey slowly shook her head. "No. You never asked."

The Joker mouthed a curse word at himself and walked over to her, still wearing his dull, blue jacket.

Audrey knitted her eyebrows in confusion. How did he know her name?

He reached in his pocket and took out a switchblade.

Her eyes widened at the sighed and she began to get away from him.

Unfortunately, the Joker grabbed her arm and pulled her back, opening the blade. He looked down at her bound wrists and slipped the knife underneath the tape, cutting right through it, easily.

Audrey quickly pulled her hands back and massaged her wrists, she looked up at him.

The Joker just raised his eyebrows and made a gesture that said 'what?'. He looked down at her. "No more questions."

"But why not?" Audrey snapped.

"That's a question," the Joker retorted in a smart-aleck attitude.

"Just answer it, please," she begged. "You took me hostage; I have a right to know why I can't ask questions."

He straightened up and licked his lips. "Fair enough…" he muttered. "To answer said question, I'll have to say the answer is, because I don't have time to answer all of your questions. I'm a busy man."

"Busy doing what?" Audrey smirked.

He narrowed her eyes at her. "What did I just say?"

"If I can't ask questions then you shouldn't be able to," she said smugly.

"That's beside the point."

"Is there a point?"

Now she was just making him mad. "The rules were be quiet, stay hidden, and be quiet. So far, you've violated two of those rules," he snarled. He held up two fingers and wiggled them a bit.

Audrey scoffed. It was easy to make him angry because he was like someone she used to know.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lacey took her coat out of her office. "I'm going home." She looked up at Henry.

He nodded. "See you tomorrow, Lacey. Say hi to Ethan for me."

"I'll be sure to do that," Lacey said with a smile. She gave one last wave to her friend and fellow doctor, and then walked out of Gotham General. She took her keys out of her purse and walked to her car. She got in and put the key in the ignition. Lacey stepped on the accelerator and began to drive to her apartment.

When she got there, she opened the door and heard someone in the kitchen. "Ethan?"

A man with curly black hair poked his head out of the kitchen. "Hey, baby!" he greeted with a smile. He walked out and gave her a light kiss on the lips. "How was work?"

"Fine," Lacey said with a shrug. "Why are you still here?"

"You don't want me here?" Ethan pretended to act hurt.

Lacey rolled her eyes.

"Is it okay if I stay the night? We never see each other because you're always at work."

Lacey nodded with a smile. "Yeah, that's fine. Did you find a job?"

"Employers seem to hate me," Ethan joked.

"You'll get a job, Ethan," Lacey said optimistically. She reached up and kissed his cheek. "I'm going to bed."

"'Kay," Ethan said with a smile.

Lacey walked to the bedroom and got into a pair of gray sweats and a white t-shirt of hers. She sat down on the bed and turned on the TV.

"Again?" she muttered, when she learned what the story was about.

"_Police have learned who was taken hostage by the Joker," the news reporter said. "Her name is Audrey Bernier. She has red hair and blue eyes, as we said before." _

Lacey froze. "Audrey…" she whispered. Her jaw dropped and she sauntered out of the bedroom.

Ethan looked up from the TV. "Is something wrong?" her boyfriend asked.

"Audrey…" she said again. "She was the one taken hostage by the Joker."

"Audrey?" Ethan repeated. "Bernier? Your best friend Audrey?"

Lacey nodded gravely. "This is terrible…" she muttered. Then her gaze became dark and determined. "I have to find her."

"Find her?" Ethan scoffed. "How would you know where she is?"

"I won't," Lacey said. "But I'll find her. She's like my sister and I can't just let the Joker kill her!"

"You don't know that he's going to do that-"

"I was in charge of taking care of one of his shooting victims! I know he'll kill people," she argued.

Ethan sighed. "Look, there were other criminals with him. You can just assume he's the one that shot that bank manager."

"Witnesses say he did."

Ethan knitted his eyebrows. "Okay, you got me…" he said. "But you can just march out there and look for Audrey. You will get yourself killed."

"After what happened with Crane, I think I'll be fine."

"Please don't bring that up, Lace."

Lacey groaned and turned, stomping off to the bedroom. She shut the door and sat down on the bed with a sigh. She laid down and stared at the ceiling, then rubbed her face tiredly. "God…"

Ethan opened the door. "Lacey?"

Lacey sighed and didn't reply.

He walked over and laid down next to her. He faced her and pushed some of her brown hair out of her face. He smiled that adorable smile of his.

Lacey smiled herself. "Yeah?"

"It's okay," Ethan whispered. "The cops'll find her and she'll be fine."

Lacey nodded. "I know, but something tells me she won't."

Ethan pecked her on the lips. "You're tired. You need sleep. We both do." He nodded and turned over onto his other side.

Lacey turned onto her back and thought for a moment. She licked her lips and turned the TV off, the room becoming instantly darker, but the dim lamp at the bedside still lit the rom a bit. She reached over and switched it off. The room became black and it took a minute or two for Lacey's eyes to adjust to the darkness, as she still couldn't fall asleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **Hope you liked Chapter Two and I'm sorry it's short… Chapter Three will be coming later this week, I hope. I'll have more time since it's spring break.

Also, if you like, you can share theories about the story and put them in reviews or you can send me a message. But review please! :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

Lacey jumped out of bed at the sound of her alarm. She was on her hands and knees as she lifted her head and looked at the time. She cursed at herself. "I'm late!" Hopping to her feet, she quickly brushed her hair out and looked herself in the mirror.

"Huh? Wha…" Ethan lifted his head from his sleep and looked at Lacey. He raised his eyebrows, laying his head back down and closing his eyes. "Calm down, Lace. You'll be fine…"

Lacey narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. She got changed into black business pants and a tan-colored blouse. "This is not good." She rushed out of the bedroom and grabbed her keys off of the coffee table.

"Well, bye!" Ethan yelled from the bedroom.

Lacey didn't respond. She only rushed out of the apartment and down the stairs to get to her car.

She climbed inside and put the key in the ignition, starting the car. She put her hands on the wheel, and took three deep breaths then a nice long exhale to relax. She flexed her fingers on the wheel and closed her eyes. "Don't worry, Lacey," she muttered to herself. "Everything will be…fine. Even if Kate and Henry are going to drive me into the ground." She opened her eyes and nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

She pressed her foot on the accelerator and started down the street, desperate to get to work.

"I am dead," Lacey said to herself, keeping her eyes on the road and trying not the go over the speed limit. Then she muttered, "This is bad!"

Finally, to her relief, she'd made it to Gotham Memorial Hospital. Lacey parked the car and took the key out of the ignition. She slipped the key into her pocket and shut the door, beginning to rush up to the doors of the hospital.

Nurses rushed around and doctors walked to one room after another. Lacey walked straight towards Kate's office to see how the bank manager was doing. Or if he'd survived the night.

Lacey poked her head inside Kate's office—nothing. She sighed and turned around. She came face-to-face with Henry.

"Hey, Henry," she greeted. "Have you seen Kate?"

Henry raised his eyebrows. "I don't think you want to see her."

"Yeah, I know I'm late. I set my alarm wrong," Lacey said. _Excuses, excuses, excuses. _

"Well, she is not happy," Henry scoffed. "But she's in room 401."

Lacey nodded. "Wish me luck."

Henry chuckled. "At this rate you'll be a patient yourself."

"Thanks, Henry. That's very comforting of you," she said sarcastically.

Henry shook his head and walked away and Lacey did the same, but in the opposite direction.

"Coming through!" a nurse said loudly.

Lacey moved out of the way as the nurse rushed a patient down the hall. She looked back, watching, but then just gave a tired exhale, turning around and heading for Room 401.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!" A harsh voice entered the room, ruining Audrey's sleep. And what ruined it even more was a light turning on.

She groaned. "Ugh… Never do that…" She opened her eyes to see the Joker walking toward the bed she laid on.

He grabbed her arm roughly and hauled her to her feet. "Come on. We got places to be and people to see."

Audrey knitted her eyebrows. "I'm sorry," she said. "But I don't see how any of your evil schemes involve _me_." She yawned and rubbed her tired eyes.

"Oh, they don't," he clarified. He wet his lips, fresh makeup on his face. "But I'm not leaving you here."

"Why not?"

He narrowed his dark eyes.

Audrey swallowed at the sight of those glaring eyes.

"It's none of your concern," he muttered. He brushed his hair back with a gloved hand, standing up straighter. "Now how do I look?"

Audrey looked him up and down. She realized he wore a new suit. Purple pin-striped pants, green vest, periwinkle shirt with a hexagon pattern, and brown shoes… She raised one eyebrow. It was the tackiest suit she'd ever seen. "Charming," she lied with a sarcastic voice.

The Joker raised one eyebrow.

"What?" Audrey knitted her eyebrows.

He licked his lips. "Nothing," he said. "Now, come on." He motioned for her to follow him.

Audrey didn't move, watching him warily.

He groaned and turned around. "Hurry up," he snapped.

Audrey exhaled and began to progress towards him.

He sighed and grabbed her wrist with one of his hands, pulling her towards him.

She lurched forward and almost ran into him, but stopped herself. She gave a sigh of relief and followed more diligently this time.

Audrey heard the Joker suppress a sigh. "You know, with the way you talk to me, I can't imagine how you're afraid of me," he noted.

She shook her head. "I'm not."

He turned around to face her. "Not from where I'm standing," he chuckled with a smirk. He brought his face closer, staring right into her eyes.

Audrey gulped and couldn't help but stare back into his. His eyes were a dark hazel color, practically dark brown, but she could see the small flecks of green scattered in them. She tried her hardest to look away.

"Like I said," he stated. "You need to cooperate." Then he ran his tongue over his lips, turning back around.

The Joker led her to the front room of the abandoned building that they resided in at the moment. He quickly grabbed a purple trench coat off a chair and pulled it on. "Come on."

Audrey quickly followed him out the door and to a black van. "What-"

"Be quiet," the Joker snapped, whipping around to face her again. He sighed, eyes dark. "_Please_."

Audrey shut her mouth. That's the thing. It was easy to make him mad, but she didn't always _want _to make him mad.

"I-" Her sentence was cut short again.

"_Don't_ get on my nerves, Audrey," the Joker grumbled.

"Well, you never did tell me how you knew my name," Audrey said rather quickly. She had to get it out because she wanted to know.

He stifled a disturbing giggle. "That's for me to know and you _never_ to find out."

Audrey narrowed her eyes. She frowned as one of the Joker's thugs shoved her into the black van. She scowled at the thug.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lacey poked her head into the hospital room. "Kate?"

The auburn-haired woman turned away from the sleeping bank manager to look at Lacey. "Well, you're late."

She chuckled nervously and brushed hair out of her face. "Yeah… About that-"

"Save it, Lacey," Kate snapped. "I have enough on my hands right now and I can't worry about you getting to work on time every morning. You have to focus; you've been late every day for about the past week."

Lacey nodded and swallowed.

"There's a patient in 302 with a broken leg. I want you to see them." Kate had turned away from her, checking the bank manager again.

Lacey exhaled. "Okay…" she breathed. Then she walked out, shutting the door quietly, rushing to the elevator. She was overjoyed when she saw that the elevator was empty, so she'd be the only one in it. The doors slid closed as she chose the third floor. She leaned against the wall and gave another sigh. Then she turned and banged her head against the wall of the elevator. "God, I'm an idiot!" she muttered angrily. She had too much pressure on herself at the moment with her job here and her plan to rescue Audrey. "Focus, Lacey, focus…" she muttered to herself. She took a few deep breaths and counted to ten, her counting ending just as the elevator doors slid open again. She stepped out and headed down the hall, her black heels clicking behind her.

She opened the door and saw an eight-year-old girl lying in the bed before her. The girl had curly blonde hair and these giant blue eyes that looked sad, but still had this odd brightness to them. "Hi…" the little girl said quietly, giving a small wave to Lacey.

Lacey stepped into the room and shut the door. "Hi," she said back with a small smile.

"I'm Becky," the girl said.

"Hi, Becky," she replied, moving closer to her bed. "I'm Lacey."

Becky smiled. "Are you a doctor?"

"Yeah," Lacey replied. "How's your leg?"

Becky glanced down at her leg wrapped in a thick violet cast. "Better. But I'm cold."

"You're cold?" Lacey was a bit confused. It was about eighty degrees outside. She placed a gentle hand on the girl's forehead, and pulled away soon, feeling the warmth of her skin. "Let's hope you're not getting sick." She was afraid it was worse than a simple fever, but she had to hope for the best. "I'll be right back, Becky. Okay?"

Becky nodded. "Okay."

Lacey walked back out of the room quietly. She felt sorry for the girl; so young but her condition could possibly be life-threatening. Whipping out her phone, Lacey dialed Henry's number (he was best in these situations). "Pick up…" she muttered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Into the car, sweetheart," he ordered. He motioned towards the black van.

Audrey didn't move. She simply tossed him a cold glare since that was all she could do, due to the fact that her hands were bound. There were also _many_ things she would like to say to him, but when you're gagged, it's kinda hard to speak.

"_You_ are going to make _me_ late," he said. The Joker tried his best to keep his temper under control at this moment.

She shook her head and managed to let out a muffled, "No!"

"You're getting on my last nerve at this point," he sighed, shutting his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose with a purple-clad hand.

Audrey raised an eyebrow at him with a bored look in her eye. She proudly shook her head.

"You really are a red head," the Joker observed, pulling on a strand of her fiery hair.

She stepped away from him. She would have loved to slap him across the face, right now. _'No touching!' _She yelled in her head.

"The sooner you get in the van, the easier this will be," he mused.

She turned her head and looked at the black van. The door was open and waiting for her to climb inside against her will. She turned back to him and narrowed her eyes, and shook her head once more.

The Joker cocked an eyebrow and picked her up, bridal-style, then tossed her into the van. Audrey grunted as she landed on her rear hardly. "Ow!" she groaned. He tossed a smile in her direction and she replied with a very muffled, "I hate you so much."

One of the goons with a clown mask ran over and quickly tied her feet together. Audrey cussed from underneath the gag as he did this, and then attempted to kick the goon. She succeeded in kicking his arm, but that was it because her feet were tied soon as well. _'Oh, God! What did I do to deserve this? I was just cashing a check!' _Audrey complained in her head.

Two more goons climbed into the back of the van and slid the door closed. She heard the Joker get into the driver's seat and slam the door. "You know, uh, Audrey, you'd better learn to behave. Next time it'll be worse than that."

Audrey's eyes widened. She leaned her head back with a groan. The car started and she just wondered what would happen to her.

"Who wants to hear a joke?" the Joker spoke up/

Audrey kicked the back of his seat. "No!"

"Yeesh! If you didn't want to, you just had to say so," he muttered.

She rolled her eyes and mumbled something incoherent. She was now trying to get her hands out of the rope. _'That rope burns!' _she thought and stopped. Next she tried her feet and was unsuccessful at that too.

The Joker sighed. "Stop trying to escape, Audrey."

Audrey yelled some muffled words at him, which no one could understand.

"Again?" he asked. She repeated the words and he sighed. "I… I can't understand a single word you are saying."

'_Really?' _she thought sarcastically. _'I wonder why!'_

"How's this? Just be…quiet," he suggested.

Audrey mumbled something else and rolled her eyes again.

When they reached their destination, the Joker stopped the van and turned around to look at the three goons and Audrey. He pointed at Audrey. "Don't go anywhere-" but she cut him off with some muffled talking that sounded something along the lines of, "As if I can." He narrowed his eyes and looked at the goons. "Make sure she doesn't cause trouble."

"Sure, boss," the goon with the smiley face mask replied. _'I'll call him Smiley…' _she thought.

The Joker got out of the van and whistled a bit as he walked toward the building. When he passed through the door, Audrey looked at Smiley and said, "The gag."

He seemed to think about it for a moment, before taking the cloth out of her mouth and untying it. Audrey gave a relieved exhale. "Oh, thank God!" she said. "How 'bout my feet now?"

"The boss said you can't go anywhere," he said warily.

Audrey sighed. "There are three of you and one of me. Who said I'm going anywhere?"

Smiley looked at the other two goons and they both shrugged. He untied the rope around her ankles.

Audrey gave him a meaningless smile. She started to wriggle her hands around, trying to get them free so she could somehow escape. She scooted over towards the door and turned around, putting her hands on the door handle.

"Hey!" the goon with the frown mask snapped. "What are you doing?"

"It's hot in here, I'm just opening the door," she answered innocently. She quickly slid the door open and sat on the floor of the van, her legs hanging out.

"Well, the boss said you can't escape," Frowny reminded her.

"You don't say!" Audrey said, acting surprised. She thinking about an escape plan while she tried to free her hands.

Smiley pointed a gun at her. "No tricks, girlie!" he said firmly.

Audrey didn't reply, but when she couldn't take it any longer, she bolted out of the van. Unfortunately, Frowny caught up to her and grabbed her bound hands. She fell onto the pavement on her back, having her breath knocked out of her. "That wasn't smart…" she coughed. She turned to her side. Her hands were soar from the impact of hitting the ground and now her back was beginning to ache.

"I knew you'd try to escape!" Smiley said proudly.

"Don't get too excited, buddy," she said hoarsely. She rolled onto her back and coughed again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Joker licked his lips and looked around the table at the Chechen and Gambol. He took a breath. "Let's wind the clocks back _a year_. These cops and lawyers wouldn't _dare_ cross any of you. I… I mean, what happened? Did your… Did your balls drop off, hmm? You see a guy like me-"

"Freak!" Gambol cut in.

He looked at the table for a moment and muttered, "A guy…like me…" Then he changed the thought. "Look, listen, I know why you choose to have these little group _therapy _sessions in broad daylight; I know why you're afraid to go out at night," he said. Then his eyes grew dark and his tone dropped, "The Batman. See, Batman has shown Gotham your true colors, unfortunately… Dent? He's just the beginning. And-and as for, uh, the televisions so-called _"plan"_? Batman has no jurisdiction. He'll find him and make him _squeal!" _He balled a fist up, then pointed at the television momentarily. "I know the squealers when I see them and…"

The TV shut off and the Chechen said, "What do you propose?"

The Joker chuckled a bit and brushed some stringy green hair out of his face. "It's simple. We, uh, _kill _the Batman." The response to this comment by Salvatore Maroni was a scoff and, "If it's so simply, why haven't you done it already?"

He wet his lips and looked at Maroni. "If you're good at something, never do it for free."

It was the Chechen's turn to speak up. "How much you want?"

The Joker thought for a moment, then said, "Uh… Half."

Groans and scoffs were heard around the table. "You're crazy," Gambol said with a small laugh.

He looked at the table again and knitted his eyebrows. "I'm not," he protested. "No, I'm not. If we don't deal with this _now _soon little, uh, Gambol, here, won't be able to get a…a _nickel _for his grandma!" He began to laugh a bit until Gambol stood up hastily. "Enough from the clown!" he yelled.

The Joker stood up and opens one side of his purple trench coat. On the scarlet lining of the coat, there were at least five grenades there, each and every pin attached to a thread and each thread led to his hand. He moved his fingers threateningly. "Ah-ta-ta-ta! Let's not "blow" this out of proportion," he said. He smiled evilly in his mind.

Gambol scowled. "You think you can just steal from us and walk away?" he demanded.

"Yeah…" the Joker answered quickly.

Gambol narrowed his eyes. "I'm puttin' the word out: Five hundred grand for this clown dead! A million alive so I can teach him some manners first!"

The Joker looked at him, eyebrows raised. He nodded a bit. "All right, so listen… Why don't you give me a call when you want to start taking things a little…more seriously." He took a joker card from his coat and laid on the table. "Here's my card." He began to back up, humming a strange tune. When he reached the doors he kicked them open and disappeared out of them .

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Whoa! Hey!" Audrey yelled. Smiley was tying her feet together again. "Watch it! That hurts!"

Smiley looked up at her and she couldn't tell if he was frowning or not underneath that smiley face mask. He looked back down and worked hard on tying a strong knot. He pulled it tight and made Audrey grit her teeth and say, "Ouch!" He snorted and folded his arms. "That's for trying to escape…three times."

"A girl can dream, can't she?" Audrey snapped back.

"What… What's this?" the Joker's voice entered the scene as he saw Audrey. She had a few bruises on her arms and legs, plus one on her right cheek bone. He looked at the goons. "Have you two been _beating _Miss Bernier."

Frowny was the first to speak up. "No! No! Nothing like that boss!" he said. "She-she-she tried to escape."

"Escape?" the Joker repeated. "Wasn't she tied up?"

Smiley rubbed the back of his neck. "Well…"

"Well, _what_?" the Joker snapped. He looked at them with cold, dark eyes.

Audrey looked out the window of the van with a sigh, listening to them bicker. Then she looked over. "Can we just go, _please_?" she begged. "I sat here for about thirty minutes, with those two idiots fighting and these ropes almost cutting my hands off!"

The Joker looked up at Audrey who sat in the seat of the van, obviously not happy. "What happened to you?"

"Hop scotch gone wrong," she retorted sarcastically.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"What's the news on that little girl, Harry?" Lacey asked. She sipped her coffee in the break room. The TV on, but no one was watching it.

Harry shrugged. "She has a fever," he said and took a sip of his own coffee. "With rest she'll get better. Why?"

Lacey sighed. "She's so young. I just…"

Harry smiled. "What? Is this the soft spot you have for kids showing?"

Lacey looked at him and smiled a bit, with a shrug. "Maybe…"

He laughed. "It's not a bad thing, Lacey."

She nodded. "Okay," she muttered. "How's Summer?"

Harry's cheeks when red hot at the mention of his girlfriend. He adjusted his glasses then ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "She's, um… She's good."

Lacey nodded and smiled. "Are you embarrassed, Harry?" she teased.

He raised an eyebrow and gave a strong, "No. Why should I be?"

"The fact that your cheeks got all read and you ran your hand through your hair," Lacey observed.

Harry rolled his eyes. "If you say so, Dr. Wright." He threw his coffee cup away and rushed out of the break room.

She chuckled a bit and sat down, just as Kate walked in. "Lacey, I need you in room 302 again. That little girl is asking to see you."

Lacey nodded. "I'll get right to it, Dr. Hunt," she said. Right now, Lacey wanted to stay on Kate's good side since she had been late frequently. She tossed her coffee and headed up to 302.

When she opened the door, Becky smiled when she saw Lacey. "Lacey!" she said, but broke into a small fit of coughing.

Lacey walked in. "Hi, Becky," she said sweetly. "How are you?"

Becky nodded. "Okay… But I miss my mom."

"You miss your mom?" Audrey repeated.

"Yeah," the little girl said.

"You know what, Becky?" Lacey said. "I'm missing someone too right now."

"Who?"

She sighed. "Someone I knew when I was younger." She looked at the ground for a moment and one person crossed her mind- Bruce Wayne.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **Alrighty! So this story hasn't got much feedback, but I hope it will soon. This chapter is shorter, but I think I added a bit more than the others did.

Chapter Four won't be coming until I get out of school (May 21st), so you have to be patient.

If you have any questions about myself or the story please just review and ask. I love to see you guys review! Thanks!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

"Why are you keeping me here?" Audrey demanded as the Joker shoved her back into the room. "You have no right!"

He shut the door behind the both of them and smirked at her. "Soon enough the big, black Bat will come looking for you," he said. "So don't worry, Sweets. As long as you don't annoy me, I won't drop you down a sewer with a giant croc. This'll all be over soon." He slipped his hand inside his coat pocket and slowly took out a switch blade.

The red-head began to back up towards the wall, eyeing the switch blade in fear. "What do you plan to do?"

He raised an eyebrow and then growled in anger, pushing her against the wall. He put an arm over her chest, and the knife at the corner of her mouth. He kept his face close to hers as he said, "My advice is that you stay quiet and don't go poking around in other people's business." He smiled at the terror that shone in her eyes brightly. "If you keep asking questions, or attempt to communicate with the outside world, I _will _make this hell. And it would be _such a shame _to ruin such a pretty face."

Audrey closed her eyes and attempted to turn her face away from him. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself, but her breathing only sped up at the feeling of his knife against her skin.

The Joker held his smile and took the knife away. "Understood?"

She nodded vigorously and he stepped away from her, closing the knife and putting it back in his pocket. "So glad you understand, Sweets," he said with a smirk. He turned around walked to the door. As he opened it, he looked at one of his goons and said, "Don't let her out of the room." The goon stepped into the room and the door was shut and locked behind the Joker.

Audrey sat down on the bed, putting her face in her hands. How was she going to get out of this? Why was this happening to her?

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lacey tossed the clip-board across the hall to a nurse. "Get him to room 106," she instructed quickly, and then she continued down the hall.

"Got it, Dr. Wright," the nurse replied, helping push a stretcher down the hall.

The over-worked Doctor Lacey Wright, walked down the hall and as she passed the break area, a cup of coffee was shoved into her hands and then someone pulled her into the room. It was obviously Henry. "Five minutes," he said. "Take a five minute break."

She sighed and took a sip of the coffee. "Fine…"

"And someone called for you," Henry said, taking a sip of his own coffee.

"Oh, really? Who?" Lacey smirked at the idea.

"Bruce Wayne."

She almost choked on the caffeinated beverage. She coughed and said, hoarsely, "What?" She coughed again and looked at Henry in disbelief.

"Bruce Wayne," he repeated. "He called for you."

"I-" Lacey was awestruck. Ten years they hadn't talked. Ten years since their break-up and he chooses to call her _now? _"Bruce…Wayne? _Billionaire_ Bruce Wayne?"

"Is there any other Bruce Wayne in the city?"

"I'm sorry, I- I just… Why would he call me?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that."

She sighed. "I'm going to run out for a minute," she said. "I don't think I have anyone to tend to, but if I do, can you take care of it?"

"Um, sure… Where are you going?" Henry asked, setting his coffee down.

"I'm going to see Bruce Wayne," she said. She slipped off her white coat and walked out of the room, taking her coffee with her.

Lacey stopped by her office and put her coat over her chair, then grabbed her car keys and walked back out of her office.

Kate was talking to a nurse by the information desk, and then the nurse walked off and Kate looked up at Lacey. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked, folding her arms.

"I'll only be gone an hour or so," she replied. "I don't have any patients to see."

"That doesn't answer my question, Lacey," Kate said firmly, folding her arms over her chest.

"Henry told me that Bruce Wayne-"

"Bruce Wayne?" Kate repeated, cutting her off mid-sentence.

Lacey sighed and continued, "-called for me. And, I mean, why not pay him a visit? Ten years since we last saw each other."

"Two hours, tops," Kate instructed.

"I'll be back," Lacey replied said. "Leave any paperwork on my desk, please."

"Have fun," she said sarcastically.

"Kinda doubt it…" I muttered, walking out of the hospital.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"I'm looking for Bruce Wayne," Lacey said, not really making eye-contact with the older man who stood in front of her. She was looked around the building- Wayne Tower.

"You must be Miss Wright," he said.

She finally looked at him and nodded with a small smile. "Yes. That's me."

"Master Wayne has told me many things about you," he says kindly.

Lacey nods again. "I'm sure he has…" she mutters.

Footsteps are the next thing she hears and then someone calling out, "Alfred!" Bruce entered the room and saw her standing at the door. He stopped suddenly and just stared at her. "Lacey…"

She gives a small wave and smile. "Hey, Bruce."

"I suppose I'll leave you two to yourselves, then," Alfred said. He turned around and passed by Bruce, muttering something to the billionaire (Lacey didn't catch it), then left the room.

Bruce started to walk towards her. "I wasn't expecting you, I-"

"I heard you called the hospital," Lacey said, interrupting him.  
>He nodded. "Yeah, I… I wanted to talk to you."<p>

"It's been ten years and you suddenly call, looking for me," she noted. "Is there any reason for that?"

He took a breath and rubbed the back of his neck. "I, um… I heard about Audrey," he said.

"Oh," she muttered. "Yeah. I'm trying to work out a way to save her."

"If there was anything I could do to help-"

"Bruce, I don't even know if the Batman will be a match for this guy," she said. "He's a lot trickier than Crane."

Bruce sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I saw the bank robbery story on the news," he said. "But if Crane was taken out, I'm sure the Joker will be."

"How've you been?" Lacey asked. She combed a hand through her hair nervously.

He shrugged. "Good as I can be, I suppose." He smiled a bit and chuckled.

"I'm not surprised," she said in return. "Life of a billionaire must be pretty great."

Bruce nodded. "Yeah. It's really great," he replied. Oh, if only Lacey knew Bruce Wayne's "little" secret. For now, he'd keep that information from her. Possibly, forever.

"Is there any other reason you called?"

"Oh, right," he said. "I'm having a fundraiser for the new DA, later this week, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to come." He looked her in the eye and Lacey had to look away for a moment.

"I'll have to think about it, okay?" she answered. "If I'm there, I'm there. If not, don't worry about it." Lacey combed a hand through her hair quickly and took a breath, then exhaled.

He nodded and said, "I understand. I hope you come."

She gave a weak smile. "I have to get back to work."

"Well, I don't want to get you fired," Bruce said with a chuckle. "So you'd better get back to the hospital."

"It was nice seeing you, Bruce." Lacey offered another smile, a bit more effort being put into it, this time.

"Yeah," he agreed. "It was nice to see you too, Lacey."

She smiled once more and turned, walking back out the door.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Can I come out yet?" Audrey sat against the door of the room. The goon had left a bit ago, leaving her alone. "Please?" She heard footsteps approaching and she quickly scrambled to her feet.

The Joker had opened the door and stepped inside. He looked straight at Audrey and said, "You've been in here complaining for the last two hours." He raised his eyebrows. "Are you ready to behave?"

Audrey raised an eyebrow. He was treating her like a child! But she knew better than to talk back to him, so she nodded and said, "Yes."

"Alright." He grabbed her arm and began to practically drag her out of the room. He let go of her arm roughly and she rubbed it, looking at him and saying, "Ow…"

The Joker didn't even notice her pain. He just looked around at a few of his goons. "Okay, boys! We have a meeting with our good friend Gambol. Let's not keep him waiting."

Audrey looked at him curiously. She was about to ask a question, but kept her mouth shut.

"Now, who wants to kill me?" was the next thing Joker said and it made Audrey look up, jaw dropped.

The Joker turned to Audrey and scoffed, taking a hand and pushing her jaw up. "Gonna miss me when I'm gone, sweetheart?" He smiled and laughed.

Audrey pushed his hand away, narrowing her eyes and frowning a bit. "With all my heart and soul," she snapped back sarcastically.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

As the van stopped, Audrey had to put her hands against the dashboard, so she didn't hit her head. "Who taught you to drive?" she asked, looking over at the Joker. Once again, her hands were bound, but she just got lucky her feet weren't and that she wasn't gagged. Oh, how she hated being gagged.

"What did I say about minding your own business?" he said, turning to her with cold eyes.

She narrowed her eyes and then held up her hands, bound by duct tape. "I still don't see why this is necessary…"

The Joker sighed and said, "Sweetheart, I don't want you trying to run away from me again. I don't think you would either." Once again, he brought his face close, so close that Audrey could feel his breath on her skin. She turned away and sighed. She let out a puff of air, blowing some hair out of her face.

He smirked and got out of the car, some of his goons following after him.

"So I just get to sit here again?" Audrey breathed to herself. "Fine." Not that she wanted to accompany the Joker to…whatever it was he planned to do, she was just getting tired of sitting places and being told not to move. She laid her head back against the back of the seat, with a sigh through her nose. She only moved her head when the door had opened and the Joker stood there, covered in a black trash bag. "You'll behave yourself?" Again, with the 'treating her like a child' attitude!

She nodded reluctantly. "Yes."

"Good," he said, watching her intently with his dark eyes. "Don't try and go anywhere. Besides, you won't get far."

"What makes you think that?" Audrey shot back at him.

"Wild guess," he said smoothly. "At this point, you're practically clinging to life. I could kill you at any second. Behave and I'll have no reason to hurt you." His permanent smile was so misleading at the moment. She could tell he wasn't fond of her and she wasn't fond of him either.

"I'm not going to go anywhere and I won't try anything funny."

"I'm the only one who tries funny things around here. Don't move. I'll be back." And, on that note, he slammed the door shut and walked into the building with a few of his goons.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Gambol stood up straight after bending over the pool table as two men carried in a body concealed in a large, black trash bag. They set him down on the table and one of them revealed the face underneath the plastic. Gambol smirked as he saw who it was and looked at the other three men. "So," he started, walking towards them, "dead. That's five-hundred."

All of a sudden, the supposedly-dead Joker jumped off the table, with a bit of help from the two who'd carried him in, and he quickly whipped out a switch blade. "How 'bout alive?" He put the sharp blade in between Gambol's lips, his other hand on the side of the mob leader's head. "Hmm?"

Gambol just stared at the Joker in fear and disbelief as the Joker brought his mouth close to Gambol's ear and whispered, "You wanna know how I got these scars?" He brought his face away so he could look straight at the mob leader and he nodded a bit.

"My father was…" The Joker looked away, seeming to think a bit, "a drinker…and a _fiend_. And one night, he goes off _crazier _than usual." The Clown Prince of Crime lowered his voice as he continued. "Mommy gets the kitchen knife to defend herself; he doesn't like that. _Not…one..bit-tah._ So, me watching, he takes the knife to her- laughing while he does it- he turns to me-" he gave a breath of laughter, "-and he says, 'Why so serious?'; he comes at _me _with the knife- '_Why so serious-sah_?'. He sticks the blade in my mouth. 'Let's put a _smile _on that face!'" The Joker pressed the knife harder against the skin at the corner of Gambol's mouth. "And…" He trailed off and turned his gaze to one of Gambol's thugs behind the mob leader.

The thug watched in horror as one of the Joker's goons had a gun pressed to his head.

The Joker raises his eyebrows a bit and says, calmly, "Why so serious?" More pressure against the skin until the blade passed right through crookedly. He dropped the limp and, most likely, dead man and he slumped to the floor.

The Joker pulled off the black trash bag and looked around at his goons and Gambol's thugs. "Now, our operation is small," he said. He walked around the pool table and put his knife away, then grabbed a pool stick. "But, there's a lot of potential for…aggressive expansion!" He stood in front of his goons who were holding the others hostage. "So, which of you find gentlemen would like to join our team?" His sing-songy voice was eerie and the hostages watched in fear. "Oh, there's only one spot open right now," he added, "so we're gonna have-" he broke the pool stick in half over his knee "-tryouts." He tossed one half to the ground and walked past them. "Make it fast."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"I hope this doesn't take much longer…" Audrey complained, resting her head against the window of the car door.

"Hey!" one of the goons who had been told to stay in the van with her, nudged her shoulder with the butt of his gun. "No talking!"

"Joker never said I couldn't," she snapped, turning around to look at him.

He grumbled something and sat back again. The other two who were in the car mumbled amongst themselves and Audrey looked out the window, waiting to leave. She wasn't even going to attempt escaping again. She still had bruises from the last time and they still hurt, so she'd learned her lesson. She'd escape soon enough; the moment there was an open chance to escape without being caught at all, she'd take it.

"Get in the car." Audrey looked out the window as the Joker and his goons walked towards the van quickly. The clown climbed into the driver's seat. "Did you behave yourself, Audrey?"

"Yes…" she muttered, sounding utterly bored.

"You don't seem happy," he noted.

"No, I'm bursting with joy," she replied flatly, still looking out the window.

The Joker sighed in annoyance and started the car with a grumble that sounded like, "Women."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Lacey walked into the apartment, shutting the door behind her. Ethan must be there, because the TV was on. "Ethan?"

The man ran out of the kitchen and immediately kissed his girlfriend happily. "I have great news!" he said, smiling at her.

She looked up at him with a smile. "What is it?"

"I got a job today!" he answered, hugging her tight for a moment.

"You did?" Lacey said in surprise. She smiled even wider and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, I'm photographer for the newspaper."

"Ethan, that's great! That's just amazing!"

"How was work?" he asked, switching the subject rather suddenly.

She sighed and chuckled a bit. She put a hand on her forehead and then combed her fingers through her hair. "Stressful," she said. "Lots of paperwork. And I got an interesting call from someone."

He cocked his head to one side a bit. "Really? From who?"

"Bruce Wayne," she said, acting like it was no big deal.

"Wayne? What did he want?" Ethan asked. He was obviously surprised by the fact that the Prince of Gotham had called his girlfriend.

"He just wanted to talk."

"How do you know him?"

"We, uh… We met in high school," Lacey said, not wanted to bring up the fact that she and the billionaire had dated for a bit. "We're old friends."

"If you say so…" he muttered. Lacey noticed his attitude and was wondering if he was getting jealous for some reason.

"When do you start work?" She wanted to change the subject, as the current one was a little unsettling for her.

"Tomorrow." He licked his lips and took a breath. "Any news on Audrey?"

Lacey shook her head. "No. I hope she's okay though."

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **So there's Chapter Four. Not one of my favorites though. I think Chapter Five will be better, but it might take me a while to get that written. School starts on August 16th and I'm gonna have to get ready for that. And, since I'm in high school now, I suppose I'll have a lot of homework, so I'll do my best to update this regularly.

What did you think? Better than the previous chapters? Worse? I'd like your reviews, opinions and _constructive _criticism, please. It'll help a lot for the coming chapters. :)

Thanks for reading! I'll update as soon as possible!


	5. Chapter Five Sneak Peek

**Author's Note: **I am currently working on Chapter Five, but I have less than a week of summer left. I want to get it up before next Thursday, but I can't promise anything…

Anyway, here's a sneak peek! :)

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

_~Six Hours Earlier~_

Lacey nodded and folded her arms. "Yeah, yeah! Kate, I'm working on it," she said to the woman. "I'll get the paperwork done. Calm down."

Kate sighed. "You'd better. I know how you hate paperwork."

"Don't we all?" Lacey replied, then she shrugged a bit and walked off. She ran her patients through in her head. She had to see…Becky Johnston next. That little girl was adorable and Lacey hoped she'd get out of the hospital soon. She hated to see children be admitted into Gotham General.

She walked to the elevator and went two floors up and into Becky's hospital room. She knocked her knuckles on the door gently and opened it quietly. "Knock, knock," she said sweetly.

Becky was holding a book in her hands and she looked up at the doctor. "Hi, Lacey!"

"Hey, Becky," Lacey said kindly, closing the door and walking over to the girl. She had her hands in the pockets of her white coat now. "How're you doing?"

"Better…" she said. The girl looked pale- paler than usual, at least.

"Are you sure?" Lacey asked, just to double check.

The little girl nodded. "Yes."

"If you feel any worse, just call for a nurse and I'll come up and check on you, alright?"

Becky nodded. "Okay."

Lacey smiled softly. "Okay. I have some things to do, but I'll be back soon. I promise."

She nodded. "Bye, Lacey."

"I'll see you soon," Lacey said as she walked back out the door.

A nurse ran up to Lacey quickly and said, "Doctor Wright, can you take a look at this patient?"

"Of course," she replied. "Just give me a moment." She pulled out her cell phone and quickly called Ethan.

"_Hey. What's up?"_ her boyfriend's voice said.

"I have somewhere to be tonight, and I might work late," she said.

"_Where do you have to be?" _he asked.

"I- Ethan, I have a patient to see. I can't talk right now. See you tomorrow morning?"

"_Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."_ On that note, both people hung up and Lacey turned back around to look at the nurse. She walked over and met the nurse outside the patient's room. "So what do I need to look at?"


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five**

"I'm not dropping the gun until you tell me where Audrey is." Lacey said keeping her eyes trained on the face-painted man.

He narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the stupidly bold doctor. "Shoot me, and you'll never find out."

Lacey cocked the gun. "I'm losing my patience, Joker," she said, then beginning to grind her teeth in a bit of nervousness.

The Joker giggled and smirked at her. "You won't shoot me," he said. "You don't have it in you." He slowly progressed towards her and she just backed up a few steps.

"Why don't we find out?" Her hands shook ever so slightly and beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. "Just tell me where she is and no one gets hurt."

"Go ahead! Shoot me!" The Joker laughed, grinning widely at her. He wanted to see what she'd do even though he was pretty sure she wouldn't pull that trigger. "I _want _you to do it."

Lacey licked her lips and began to slowly squeeze her finger down on the trigger until finally a shot was fired, but it wasn't from her gun. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching her side with both hands.

The Joker turned to see one of his goons holding up a gun. "What was that?" he asked, frowning a bit.

"I, um… She was going to shoot you!" he stuttered.

He growled in anger. "_No she wasn't_. She never would have fired that gun!" he looked down at Lacey, who had her teeth gritted in pain and her eyes shut tight. "Now Batman has an even bigger reason to kill us."

Lacey moved her hands and looked down at the bleeding bullet wound. Her breath was caught in her throat at the sight of the blood seeping through her dress. She lifted the folds of her skirt and pressed them against the wound in attempt to slow the blood

"Lacey?" a masculine voice called and footsteps were heard. "Lacey!"

The Joker looked at his goons. "We have to get out of here! Let's go!" The goons rushed out the nearest exit, opposite of where the other man was coming from. "

"Where's Audrey?" Lacey choked out, just before the Joker disappeared out the door.

He squatted down in front of her and put a gloved hand under her chin, lifting it so she stared up at him. He smirked and laughed, "You think I'd tell you?" Then he ran out the door, leaving her there.

The man rounded the corner, seeing Lacey on the ground. "Lacey!" he knelt next to her, seeing the wound. "What happened?"

"Bruce," she groaned in pain. Her vision was going blurry, but she kept her eyes on the billionaire. "Bruce… Joker and his men, they-" She was cut off as she shut her eyes tight in pain. She opened them, blinking out a few tears.

He looked back at her, his gaze not leaving hers. "Lacey, I want you to keep your eyes on me. Okay?" he said. "_Keep your eyes on me._"

Lacey looked back at him, her vision growing worse every second. Eventually, she fell back, lying down, still in immense pain but was beginning to lose consciousness. "Bruce…" she breathed.

"Lacey. Lacey keep your eyes on me!" Bruce knelt over her, patting her cheek a bit. "Listen to me, you're going to be fine, Lacey." He moved and slid a hand underneath her back, propping her up, laying her head against his chest.

Her eyelids began to close and, just before the blackness overcame her, she heard him yell her name one more time. "Lacey!" Then her world faded into nothingness.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_~Six Hours Earlier~_

Lacey nodded and folded her arms. "Yeah, yeah! Kate, I'm working on it," she said to the woman. "I'll get the paperwork done. Calm down."

Kate sighed. "You'd better. I know how you hate paperwork."

"Don't we all?" Lacey replied, then she shrugged a bit and walked off. She ran her patients through in her head. She had to see…Becky Johnston next. That little girl was adorable and Lacey hoped she'd get out of the hospital soon. She hated to see children be admitted into Gotham General.

She walked to the elevator and went two floors up and into Becky's hospital room. She knocked her knuckles on the door gently and opened it quietly. "Knock, knock," she said sweetly.

Becky was holding a book in her hands and she looked up at the doctor. "Hi, Lacey!"

"Hey, Becky," Lacey said kindly, closing the door and walking over to the girl. She had her hands in the pockets of her white coat now. "How're you doing?"

"Better…" she said. The girl looked pale- paler than usual, at least.

"Are you sure?" Lacey asked, just to double check.

The little girl nodded. "Yes."

"If you feel any worse, just call for a nurse and I'll come up and check on you, alright?"

Becky nodded. "Okay."

Lacey smiled softly. "Okay. I have some things to do, but I'll be back soon. I promise."

She nodded. "Bye, Lacey."

"I'll see you soon," Lacey said as she walked back out the door.

A nurse ran up to Lacey quickly and said, "Doctor Wright, can you take a look at this patient?"

"Of course," she replied. "Just give me a moment." She pulled out her cell phone and quickly called Ethan.

"_Hey. What's up?"_ her boyfriend's voice said.

"I have somewhere to be tonight, and I might work late," she said.

"_Where do you have to be?" _he asked.

"I- Ethan, I have a patient to see. I can't talk right now. See you tomorrow morning?"

"_Yeah. Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow."_ On that note, both people hung up and Lacey turned back around to look at the nurse. She walked over and met the nurse outside the patient's room. "So what do I need to look at?" Lacey winced from a pain in her head and the nurse knitted her eyebrows in confusion.

"Dr. Wright, are you okay?" the nurse asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied with a forced smile. "Just a minor headache." 'Minor' was an understatement. These headaches had been happening for at least two months now and she knew exactly why. She'd have to deal with it soon, too.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Do you know how much I hate to see people without a smile?"

Audrey turned her head, brushing her red hair out of her face. "Sorry to ruin the moment, but I honestly don't care." Her voice was edgy and unwelcome, yet it still carried a sound of fear.

The Joker raised an eyebrow. "You should care," he said. "Smiling is good for you." He gave a wide, eerie grin after this.

The red-head looked away, wiping away the tears that were threatening to fall. She wanted to go home; she wanted to get away from this…monster. She hated it here.

"Nervous?" Now he was just teasing her; he wanted to see the fear in her eyes.

She swallowed and cleared her throat. "What do you mean?"

"You look uncomfortable," he said.

She shook her head now. "No, I'm perfectly comfortable with being abducted by a delusional clown who goes around killing innocent civilians."

His tongue darted out of his mouth for a moment and then he said, "That's insulting."

Audrey felt like saying, _'That's the point,' _but decided against it. Instead, she didn't say anything.

Her hands were tied behind her back and she sat on the bed, feet bound as well. "Why must you always tie me up?"

He shrugged a bit and licked his lips. "Don't want you running anywhere, do we?"

"_No we don't_…" she grumbled sarcastically, through clenched teeth. She sighed and looked at the ground. She repeatedly flexed her fingers and moved her wrists around, as if she was trying to slowly escape the uncomfortable duct tape that, once more, irritated her skin.

"Well, I have, um, _business_ to attend to," the Joker said, looking at Audrey.

"Really? Who're you gonna kill this time?" she snapped at him, looking up. The tears were gone from her blue eyes and she masked her fear with a bit of courage.

He gripped her chin with a rough hand and leaned his face down close to hers. "Do I have to remind you what will happen if you don't mind your own business?" he growled.

Audrey stared back into his eyes, hers wide with…fear. The courage had left and she saw something in his eyes- rage, madness, and- Pfft! No, she was wrong. She could have sworn she detected a glimmer of sorrow in his eyes, but, obviously, she was seeing things. This man was a cold-blooded killer! Sorrow was not to be associated with him; well, that's what Audrey thought at least.

Instead of agreeing to his terms, she said, "What happened that was so bad, it turned you into…_this_?" Immediately, she had regretted the words that had come out of her mouth.

He looked surprised by this question, but he merely smiled widely. "You really want to know?"

She didn't respond, afraid of the consequences if she did.

"You know, people tend to regret asking the very question you just did," he said. His grip on her chin didn't loosen. If anything, it got tighter! "So do you want to know?"

Audrey inhaled a shuddering breath through her nose, keeping her mouth shut tight. She slowly shook her head, eyes traveling over every inch of his face until they reached the scars protruding from the edges of his mouth.

"No?" he questioned, lips parted a bit. He stared back down at her, catching her eyes staring back at his scars.

Her eyes snapped up to his and she meekly said, "No…"

"That's what I thought," he said. The Joker's hand left her chin roughly, almost tossing her onto her back. She craned her neck and rubbed her chin on her shoulder, her skin burning. He patted her cheek with a purple-clad hand and grinned. "You are to stay here and not make a sound. Understand?"

She nodded quickly and said, "Yes." Her voice was quiet and her eyes began to grow hot with tears.

"That's just what I wanted to hear," he said with a satisfied smile. On that note, he turned his back to her and headed out the door of the room.

Again, Miss Audrey Bernier was left alone, but she told herself that no company was better than _his _company. _On the bright side, Audrey, no one'll threaten you if you're alone, _she thought to herself, trying to brighten her mood. It worked for a mere second, until she remembered that she was still here.

The door creaked open and it made Audrey look up to see one of Joker's goons come into the room. He stood in front of the door, silently.

"Can I help you?" she spoke up, looking at the man with the plastic clown mask.

"Joker told me to keep an eye on you," he said flatly.

She looked around the room, and then back to him. "Uh… I don't know if you know this, but, um, I'm all tied up at the moment," she said. "I'm in a room with no windows, too. I don't think I'm going anywhere."

He scoffed. "Boss told me you'd say that, and that I shouldn't believe you."

She cursed softly to herself. "How much is he paying you?"

"What? I don't see how that's-"

"No man, in their right of mind, of course, would willingly work for a guy like the Joker," she pointed out. "He must be paying you some pretty big bucks to get you to do this."

"He might be, but why should I tell you that?"

"I don't know what you're so afraid of; I have no one to tell." As she was talking to this guard, distracting him, she was wiggling her wrists around and could feel her hands slipping out of the duct tape. "Do you have a family?"

"Maybe."

"Are you trying to take care of them? Is that why you took the job? To get money for them?"

"That's none of your business."

"I understand you want them to live happily, but are you happy? Go get a decent job and stop dealing with this maniac."

The guy scoffed and shifted his feet. "I'm not supposed to be talking to you."

"Why?" Audrey pressed, still moving her wrists. She could feel the duct tape slipping.

He didn't respond, obviously sticking by the word that he wasn't supposed to talk to her.

She huffed and shook her head a bit. "If you're not supposed to be talking to me, then just get out of the room. Like I said, I'm not going anywhere."

He stood still and silent for a moment, as if he was thinking it over. After a few seconds, he turned around opened the door and left the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

Just as he closed the door, Audrey's hands slipped out of the duct tape. Her wrists were red and irritated, plus a few scratches. She massaged them, one after the other, teeth clenched. She then reached down and got the duct tape off of her ankles. It took some effort, but she got it off.

She threw the duct tape aside and stood up, walking over to the door quietly. She put her hand on the knob and turned slowly, learning it was locked. She cursed to herself and looked around the room again, for good measure. One door, no windows. "Great…" she muttered.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"He dislocated his shoulder," Lacey told the nurse. "Just put it back in place and give him a sling for his arm, and he should be able to go."

"Yes, Doctor Wright," the nurse said, turning around and heading back towards the patient.

Lacey walked out of the room and walked down the hall. She looked at her watch to check the time, then she looked up.

Something caught her ear and she poked her head into one of the hospital rooms, where a television was on. She folded her arms and watched the television with interest.

"_Tell them your name," the eerie voice said. _

She looked at the screen in disgust when she saw the man dressed as Batman tied to the chair.

_The man whimpered a bit, not looking up at the Joker, who held the camera. "Brian…Douglas."_

_The Joker giggled and shifted the camera in his hands. "Are you the _real _Batman?" _

"_No…" Brian said meekly._

"_No? No?" he laughed. Then he ripped the mask off of the man and held it in front of the camera. His voice dropped to an angered growl. "Then why do you dress up like him?" he demanded firmly. "Woohoo-hoo-hoo!" He moved the mask in front of the camera, and Brian was silent._

_That's when the Joker turned the camera on his own painted face. "You see, this is how _crazy _Batman's made Gotham!" he said. "You want order in Gotham, Batman must take off his mask and turn himself in. Oh, and every day he doesn't, _people will die. _Starting tonight." The camera got closer to his face as he said, "I'm a man of my word-ah!" Then he let out a maniacal laugh, leaving Brian screaming as the camera shut off._

"Oh my god…" Lacey said in shock. She turned and walked out of the patient's room. That laugh echoed in her head, and she couldn't get it out. She shook her head to clear a bit and walked down the hall. She had to leave the hospital for the day; she had a party to get to.

A nurse bumped into Lacey and quickly apologized. Lacey forgave them and kept walking.

"Lacey!" she heard a familiar voice. Obviously that bossy tone was Kate.

"Kate?" Lacey turned around and saw Kate standing in the doorway of a patient.

Kate nodded and motioned for Lacey to follow her. Lacey gave an exasperated sigh and followed after the woman to her office.

"Leaving again?" Kate questioned as they entered the room. "It's only seven."

"Exactly," Lacey said with a slight nod.

Kate waited for her to elaborate. "I'm afraid I'm not following."

"You know how I went to see Bruce…Wayne, the other day?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to a fundraiser for the new district attorney." She ran a hand through her hair.

Kate looked surprised. "Really?"

"Yes," Lacey said. "So I have to go and get ready and all that jazz. I have to leave for the night."

"Alright… You'll have paperwork on your desk in the morning," the doctor said, folding her arms.

Lacey nodded. "Yeah, I know…" she sighed. "I'll see you in the morning, Kate."

"See you, Lacey," Kate turned around as Lacey left the office. She needed to get her mind off of that video she'd seen on TV. As she thought about it, that sadistic laugh echoed through her head again.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

She pushed the door open after unlocking it and turned the light on in the apartment. "Ethan? You here?"

When there was no answer, Lacey shrugged and took her jacket off. She threw it on the couch and set her keys down, heading into the bedroom. She opened her closet door and rummaged through some things, shoving black skirts and multiple blouses out of the way until she found what she was looking for at the back of the closet. She took the dress out, a beautiful dark violet color, with only one shoulder-strap and a silver design on the strap. She had bought it maybe…two years ago, when she was out with a few friends. She was finally getting the chance to wear it.

In a few minutes, she had changed into the beautiful dress. She looked at herself in the mirror; the gown made her feel insecure, but she'd have to suck it up for one night. She didn't pay for this dress to keep it in her closet forever. Next, she moved onto working on her hair. She pulled it out of the pony-tail it was in and brushed it out, then pulling it back into a nice and neat braided bun. She put on some makeup, and looked in the mirror again. Lacey managed a weak smile and she put her heels on underneath the floor-length dress.

She walked out of the bedroom and grabbed her coat once more, taking her keys off of the table. She took a breath and headed out the door. "Let's go."

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

_Wow, that's a lot of people… _Lacey thought as she stepped off the elevator. Classical music played, people talked and drinks were passed around. _Lacey, you're fine. You're great. Everything will be perfect. _

"Ah, Miss Wright!" A voice made Lacey turn around and look at the friendly face of Alfred. She gave a warm smile. "Oh, Alfred."

"You came," he said.

"Yeah, I-I did," she said with a small chuckle. "How many times will I get the chance to go to a party like this?"

"You're very busy, I presume. I don't believe you'd agree to come to many things like this."

"Normally, no, but this was an exception, I suppose."

Alfred offered her a drink, but Lacey declined and he made his way, walking away from her. She looked around, until two people caught her eye- Rachel Dawes and Harvey Dent.

"Rachel?" Lacey smiled a bit and began to walk towards them. Yes, she and Bruce had broken up because she knew Bruce had feelings for Rachel, but that didn't mean she had to hate the woman. They were actually good friends, believe it or not.

"Lacey?" was Rachel's response. She rushed over to the doctor, leaving Harvey to talk to Alfred. "Is that you?"

"How are you?" Lacey asked.

"I'm good. I'm really good. You?"

"Great. Job's great, too."

"Yeah, you're a doctor at Gotham General, right?"

"That's right."

"God, it's been…what? Ten years?"

"Ten years," Lacey echoed with a small smile.

"Well, you look great," Rachel said, smiling.

"So do you," she replied.

"We'll have to get together and catch up sometime," Rachel suggested.

Lacey nodded. "Yeah. We will."

"It was great to see you," Rachel said, looking back at Harvey for a moment. "I'll see you later."

She nodded again and watched as Rachel walked off to talk to some other party guests.

Lacey folded her arms, looking around again, still feeling insecure in her dress. She exhaled slowly to calm herself until she heard the whirring of a helicopter. Everyone turned and looked out at the window as the helicopter landed. And- who could have guessed it?- Bruce Wayne stepped out, helping two models out of the helicopter as well. Lacey gave a soft scoff and she smirked a bit. "Wow, Bruce…" she muttered.

Alfred opened the doors so the billionaire could walk into the building with a model on each arm. "I'm sorry that I'm late. I'm glad to see you all got started without me," he apologized, walking to the middle of the crowd. He clapped his hands together softly. "Now, where is Harvey? Where-?" Then he spotted the district attorney and gave a meaningless smile. "Harvey Dent, the man of the hour." He looked around and gave a smile, with a bit more effort. "Where's Rachel Dawes?"

Rachel stood at the front of a few people, arms crossed and she had a scolding look on her face.

"Rachel is my oldest friend. Come here," he said, looking at Rachel.

She reluctantly began to move forward towards Bruce.

"You know, when Rachel first told me she was dating Harvey Dent, I had one thing to say: 'The guy from those God-awful campaign commercials?'" he teased. "'I believe in Harvey Dent?'" He gave a thumbs up in Harvey's direction. "Yeah, nice slogan, Harvey."

Weak laughter was heard from the crowd and Harvey was obviously embarrassed now.

Lacey scoffed again and shook her head at Bruce, but didn't take her eyes off of him.

"But, it caught Rachel's attention," he continued. "And then I started to pay attention to Harvey and all that he's been doing as our new DA. And you know what? I believe in Harvey Dent. I believe that on his watch, Gotham can feel a little safer, a little more…optimistic."

The doctor was honestly surprised at Bruce's words. They seemed…sincere, which was oddly different.

"Look at this face. This is the face of Gotham's bright future," Bruce said, looking at Harvey. "To Harvey Dent. Let's hear it for him." He began to clap and the rest of the crowd joined it, including Lacey. She smiled a bit, impressed by the speech.

Everyone soon went back to their talking and chatting, ignoring anything else around them.

Lacey looked around and stood back against the wall, not paying attention to much. A little bit of her was happy she had come, the other part of her wanted to go home.

"Lacey." Bruce walked over to the woman, a smile on his face. "You look nice. I'm glad you came."

She turned and looked at Bruce with a small smile. "Thanks. It's better to be here than doing paperwork."

"I'm sure it is," he chuckled. "You know, I'm glad you came."

"I'm glad I did too," Lacey replied with a small nod.

"How are things at the hospital?"

"It's a hospital. What do you expect? People are being rushed in and out every day."  
>Bruce shrugged a bit. "Having fun at your job?"<p>

"I'd be lying if I said yes," she admitted. "I like my job, it can just be a little depressing sometimes."

"I can't imagine what it's like," he said. "My dad was a surgeon, but I never had an ambition to be a doctor."

Lacey laughed a bit. "I don't think you'd make a very good doctor, Bruce."

"I agree," he said with a smile. He exhaled and licked his lips. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

She nodded and smiled. "Okay."

He gave one last smile and turned, walking out to the balcony.

Lacey sighed and looked around, taking a deep breath. She began to walk into the crowd thinking, _Okay, let's socialize. Or try… _She looked around at everyone until someone bumped right into her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the voice said. It was masculine, that's for sure.

Lacey chuckled. "It's alright," she said. Then she turned and recognized the face of Harvey Dent. "Oh, Mr. Dent."

He laughed a bit. "Call me Harvey, Miss…"

"Lacey. Lacey Wright." She extended her hand out to him and he smiled a bit, shaking her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Miss Wright," he said politely.

"Um, doctor actually, but call me Lacey," Lacey responded with a small laugh.

"Alright," he said. "You said doctor. What kind?"

"Medical," she said. "Psychiatry never interested me. Especially now after Crane's…rampage."

He smirked. "I don't blame you. It's sad that Crane went so crazy."

Lacey nodded. "I knew him too. From high-school and a few years after that."

"That must've been hard," Harvey admitted. "Seeing someone you knew do something like that."

"It was certainly a sight," she said with a breath of laughter.

He cleared his throat. "I should, um… I should find Rachel."

"It was nice meeting you, Harvey," Lacey said politely with a smile.

"Likewise, Doctor Wright," he replied.

"Lacey," I corrected him.

He chuckled and nodded. "Lacey." He gave one last smile and turned, walking away.

She smiled and watched as he left her. He was nicer than she thought he'd be. Lacey believed he'd be very serious all the time, but she was wrong.

Time began to pass at the party, rather quickly, too. Lacey made her way to talk to other people and actually start to make a few friends. People asked her about what it was like to work at Gotham General and if it was as nice as they'd heard. She'd simply say it was certainly a great experience and that it had its perks. She'd lost track of where Bruce, Rachel and Harvey had gone, but she hadn't been thinking about that. She'd been regretting the fact that she hadn't asked Bruce if she could bring Ethan. She felt bad now that she hadn't. Lacey even felt bad that she hadn't told Ethan where she'd be tonight.

Lacey looked around at everyone talking and having a nice time until a loud gunshot was heard. She whipped her head in the direction of the shot and she saw the Joker and some of his goons heading into the room. Thugs went around to the people at the front of the crowd and pointed shotguns at them to stay back.

"_Good evening_, ladies and gentle_men_," he said, walking around the crowd. Something clattered to the floor, but most people seemed to ignore it since their attention was on...him. "We are tonight's _entertainment_!"

Lacey swallowed and took a few deep breaths, remaining silent and doing her best to remain calm as she could tell everyone else was.

He stole a piece of shrimp from the table and quickly popped it in his mouth. "I only have one question," he said. "_Where is Harvey Dent-ah?_"

There was silence throughout the room and the Joker's gaze swept around the guests, waiting for someone to speak up. He turned around and walked around to some guests, pointing his shotgun at them. Then he grabbed one woman's drink fiercely that the actually drink flew out the glass, yet he still lifted it to his lips.

The Joker set the glass down and tapped a woman's cheek saying, "Do you know where Harvey is? Do you know who he is?"

Then he moved on to a man and grabbed the man's face. "Do you know where I can find Harvey? I need to talk to him about somethin'. Just somethin' little, huh?" When the man didn't respond, the Joker pushed him away. "_No_."

Next, he walked up to an older man, getting close to him. "You know, I'll settle for his loved ones," he said with a slightly threatening tone.

"We're not intimidated by thugs!" the man said bravely.

The Joker narrowed his eyes, studying him. "You know," he began, setting his shotgun down on the table, "you remind me of my father." Then he grabbed the back of the man's neck with one and brought knife close to his face with the other. "I _hated _my father!" Only did he turn when Rachel's voice was heard saying, "Okay, stop."

The assistant DA walked out from the crowd bravely and the Joker began to walk towards her. He brushed some of his dyed-green hair back, as if trying to impress her. "Well, hello, beautiful," he said coolly. He gestured to her with his switchblade and said, "You must be Harvey's _squeeze_. Hmm?" Then his voice lowered as he got closer and looked her up and down. "And you are beautiful…" He began to circle her, like a vulture, and Rachel kept her arms crossed and wanted to stay as far away from him as possible.

He circled around so he stood in front of her, bringing himself close. "Oh, you look nervous? Is it the scars?" he said. "You wanna know how I got 'em?" He gave a small nod and then grabbed her neck with one hand and held a knife to her face with the other. "C'mere. Hey."

Rachel struggled to escape his grip but was unsuccessful.

"Look at me," he instructed, turning her head so she looked him in the face, yet she still looked at the ground or off to the side.

Lacey watched, horror in her eyes. She wondered what he'd do, if anything, to her.

"So, I had a wife. She was beautiful, like you, who tells me I _worry_ too much; who tells me I oughta _smile _more, who _gambles_ and gets in deep with the sharks. Hey." As Rachel craned her neck backwards to get away, he simply tightened his grip and forced her to look at him again. "One day they carve her face. And we have no money for surgeries. She can't take it. I just wanna see her smile again. Hm? I just want her to know that I don't care about the _scars_! So, I stick a razor in my mouth and do this-" he drags his tongue from one corner of his mouth to the other, "-to myself. And you know what? _She can't stand the __**sight**__ of me!_ She leaves… Now, I see the funny side." He began to step away from her with a grin. "Now I'm always smiling!"

That's when Rachel took her chance and kneed him in the groin, but he seemed almost unfazed. He bent over with a struggled laugh and looked up at her, quickly straightening up. "You got a little fight in you," he pointed out. He pointed to her with the knife. "I like that."

The Joker was caught off-guard at the gravelly voice that said, "Then you're gonna love me." He turned to see the Batman standing off to the side and the vigilante quickly punched him, sending the Joker off balance.

A few of the Joker's goons rushed forward to aid their boss, but Batman quickly took them out.

The Joker then got one of his goons to punch Batman when he wasn't ready and then hold him back, having the Joker kick him repeatedly.

Lacey gasped and looked around as guests began to rush for exits. _Wait… _she thought. _Audrey!_

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Audrey groaned and began to complain quietly, "Oh, when is he going to get back?" She sat in the black van with two other goons, one who was asleep. Luckily the other wasn't paying attention to anything but the shotgun he held. To make sure, the red-head looked down at her feet and saw they weren't bound this time. "Huh…" she said in surprise.

Then she slowly began to reach for the door handle with her bound hands, trying not to draw attention to herself. When she got close enough, her hands darted forward, pushing the door open and she jumped out of the car, racing away from the van.

"Hey!" the goon yelled, jumping out after her. "Get back here!"

She gave a breathy laugh. "No way, chuckles!" she yelled, keeping her legs going. This was it! She was finally escaping! Three days she had been imprisoned by that crazy clown and she was finally getting away from it all!

Audrey turned the corner sharply, hoping to lose the thug, but she heard his yells and his heavy footsteps still behind her. She groaned and kept running, tearing the duct tape with her teeth as she ran. She turned another corner, and hid in a crevice between two buildings. She kept her breathing soft and didn't make a sound. She heard the man's footsteps stop and then she heard him groan in frustration and take off again, thinking she was still running.

Audrey poked her head out and watched the thug run off, and then she stepped out and ran back towards the black van. She had to get into that building and into that party.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Joker laughed and shot the glass behind him with the handgun, positioning Rachel to hang outside the window, only his hand holding onto her arm. He looked back at Batman, waiting for him to do something.

Batman stood there, eyes dark, then he said, "Let her go."

The criminal narrowed his eyes. "Very _poor _choice of words," he said, with another laugh. His hand let go of Rachel, sending her falling. He stepped out of the way as Batman leaped out the window to save her.

The Joker made his way around the crowd to get out of the building, pushing a door open.

Lacey watched and then did what she knew would be a bad idea. She walked by one of the fallen thugs and grabbed his handgun, following after the Joker and the one or two goons that were left.

"Hey, clown!" Lacey shouted as she chased after them. She held the gun up in front of her, both hands on it.

The Joker slowed his pace until he came to a complete stop. He turned on his heel, staring back at Lacey. "Hello there, gorgeous," he cooed smoothly. He gave a smile and stepped towards her, but she simply tightened her grip on the gun.

"I want you to answer one question," she said.

He grinned again. "Anything for you, doll."

"Where is Audrey?"

"What's it to you?"

"Answer the question!"

"Ooh, demanding, aren't we?" he laughed.

"_Where is she_?" Lacey said, articulating every word.

"Why should _I _tell _you_?" He moved towards her again, and reached for the handgun she held, but she pulled it out of his reach. He raised his eyebrows. "Are you gonna shoot me if I don't tell you?"

"I'm definitely considering it," she said.

"You know, shooting me will only bring you down to my level," he pointed out. "Just drop the gun and we can talk this out like adults-_ah_."

"Stop the small talk, Joker," she said angrily. "Tell me where she is?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Oh, I think it is," he said. "See, I have Audrey hidden somewhere. I haven't hurt her, yet, at least, but she's safe. If you want her back, you're going to have to tell me why you want to save her."

Lacey's grip slacked on the gun and she swallowed.

"That's it," he said. "Set the gun down, and I'll tell you where she is."

She considered setting the gun down, but she had a feeling he was lying. "You're lying."

"What?" the Joker seemed hurt by her assumption. "Lying? Would I lie to you, doll?"

"You'd lie to anyone," she said quietly. "You're a criminal."

"I'm hurt," he said. "How could you say that?"

She groaned in a bit of frustration. "Where is she?"

He smirked. "Like I said, put the gun down and I'll tell you."

"I'm not dropping the gun until you tell me where Audrey is." Lacey said keeping her eyes trained on the face-painted man.

He narrowed his eyes and raised an eyebrow at the stupidly bold doctor. "Shoot me, and you'll never find out."

Lacey cocked the gun. "I'm losing my patience, Joker," she said, then beginning to grind her teeth in a bit of nervousness.

The Joker giggled and smirked at her. "You won't shoot me," he said. "You don't have it in you." He slowly progressed towards her and she just backed up a few steps.

"Why don't we find out?" Her hands shook ever so slightly and beads of sweat began to form on her forehead. "Just tell me where she is and no one gets hurt."

"Go ahead! Shoot me!" The Joker laughed, grinning widely at her. He wanted to see what she'd do even though he was pretty sure she wouldn't pull that trigger. "I _want _you to do it."

Lacey licked her lips and began to slowly squeeze her finger down on the trigger until finally a shot was fired, but it wasn't from her gun. She screamed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching her side with both hands.

The Joker turned to see one of his goons holding up a gun. "What was that?" he asked, frowning a bit.

"I, um… She was going to shoot you!" he stuttered.

He growled in anger. "_No she wasn't_. She never would have fired that gun!" he looked down at Lacey, who had her teeth gritted in pain and her eyes shut tight. "Now Batman has an even bigger reason to kill us."

Lacey moved her hands and looked down at the bleeding bullet wound. Her breath was caught in her throat at the sight of the blood seeping through her dress. She lifted the folds of her skirt and pressed them against the wound in attempt to slow the blood

"Lacey?" a masculine voice called and footsteps were heard. "Lacey!"

The Joker looked at his goons. "We have to get out of here! Let's go!" The goons rushed out the nearest exit, opposite of where the other man was coming from. "

"Where's Audrey?" Lacey choked out, just before the Joker disappeared out the door.

He squatted down in front of her and put a gloved hand under her chin, lifting it so she stared up at him. He smirked and laughed, "You think I'd tell you?" Then he ran out the door, leaving her there.

The man rounded the corner, seeing Lacey on the ground. "Lacey!" he knelt next to her, seeing the wound. "What happened?"

"Bruce," she groaned in pain. Her vision was going blurry, but she kept her eyes on the billionaire. "Bruce… Joker and his men, they-" She was cut off as she shut her eyes tight in pain. She opened them, blinking out a few tears.

He looked back at her, his gaze not leaving hers. "Lacey, I want you to keep your eyes on me. Okay?" he said. "_Keep your eyes on me._"

Lacey looked back at him, her vision growing worse every second. Eventually, she fell back, lying down, still in immense pain but was beginning to lose consciousness. "Bruce…" she breathed.

"Lacey. Lacey keep your eyes on me!" Bruce knelt over her, patting her cheek a bit. "Listen to me, you're going to be fine, Lacey." He moved and slid a hand underneath her back, propping her up, laying her head against his chest.

Her eyelids began to close and, just before the blackness overcame her, she heard him yell her name one more time. "Lacey!" Then her world faded into nothingness.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

**Author's Note: **Dun, dun, dun!

Well, there's Chapter Five. :) Today was my first day of highschool so don't expect me to update this regularly, but I will work on Chapter Six whenever I can. I promise.

What did you think? Was it good? Bad, maybe? I'd really love to hear your feedback, whether it's through a PM or a review. Please tell me if I can improve on anything and I'd love to hear your opinion.


End file.
